Peter Obi: Tinubu Has Been Excellent In Continuing Buhari’s Legacy Of Failure

 

As Nigeria commemorates 25 years of uninterrupted democracy during President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office, Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, delivered a scathing critique of Tinubu’s administration. In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Obi accused Tinubu of excelling in continuing former President Muhammadu Buhari's legacy of failure.Obi’s assessment began with what appeared to be praise but quickly turned to biting sarcasm. “I’ve never made comments about one year in office. The reason why is simple. I would say that president Tinubu has kept to his campaign promises. Throughout the campaign, he consistently maintained that he will continue from where Buhari stopped and he’s done very well. I would say excellent. I’ll give him an excellent pass mark,” Obi remarked.The former governor of Anambra State then delved into a detailed critique of the nation's economic indicators, highlighting significant declines since Tinubu assumed office. He noted that the value of the naira had plummeted, with the exchange rate shifting from 460 naira per dollar to 1,500 naira per dollar. Fuel prices surged from 238 naira to about 700 naira per liter, while the cost of diesel jumped from 844 naira to 1,415 naira per liter.Obi continued to outline the steep rises in food prices, mentioning that a bag of rice had escalated from 30,000-35,000 naira to about 80,000 naira, and a bag of beans had increased from a similar range to 90,000 naira. Other staples such as garri, yams, tomatoes, and bread had also seen drastic price hikes.“Our debt, even bread which is the basic thing other countries are subsidising, like Egypt, bread, small medium bread for 450 naira is now 900 naira. The big one was 900, it’s now 1,500. Our debt like I mentioned, was 87 trillion naira. By the end of last year, it was actually 97 trillion naira, the highest we’ve gone within that short period. Now it’s over 100 trillion naira. In fact, this year alone, the government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, had issued and taken from the system, over 16 trillion naira. You can imagine the interest at almost 20%. It’s about 3.2 trillion after 12 months. Add that last year, a period of nine months, we spent about 5.7 trillion servicing debt interest and payment, so add that. So, overall, we’ve done well,” Obi stated, with a heavy dose of irony.Obi lamented the dire state of Nigeria's economy, noting that the country had fallen from being the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $477 billion to the fourth position. Currently, South Africa leads with a GDP of $373 billion, followed by Egypt, Algeria, and then Nigeria with a GDP of $252 billion. He highlighted that Nigeria's per capita GDP had also significantly declined, putting it at a quarter of the per capita GDP of other leading African economies.Obi didn’t stop at economic indicators. He also addressed issues of insecurity, corruption, and adherence to the rule of law, all of which he said had worsened under Tinubu's leadership. “Every other thing has headed South. Is it insecurity? It has worsened. Corruption has worsened, adherence to the rule of law has worsened, nepotism is at the highest,” Obi concluded.Peter Obi’s remarks paint a bleak picture of Nigeria’s trajectory under President Tinubu, raising serious concerns about the country’s future amidst these pressing challenges.