APC tackles Peter Obi over economic policy criticism

On Monday, Obi called for quick action in resolving the current economic crisis in the country.

In ..., he highlighted the contrast between Nigeria’s economic performance in the early years of its return to democracy and its current state.

He wrote, “When Nigeria returned to democratic governance in 1999, it maintained an average GDP growth of about 6.72% for 16 years from 1999-2014.”

However, he pointed out that this growth was not sustained, with GDP growth collapsing to 2.79% in 2015 and the economy slipping into recession in 2016.

Reacting to his outburst, APC in a statement on Tuesday by National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Obi’s criticism was based misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.

APC wrote, “The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections and former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has continued, unabashedly, to showcase his obsessive devotion to self promotion against the best interest of Nigeria. Mr. Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.

“He opined, rather mischievously, that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country.”

Reeling from the trajectory of Nigeria’s economic decline, APC said it began under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with Goss Democratic Product growth plummeting from 7.98 per cent in 2010 to 2.79 per cent in 2015.

It said, “And since 2015, the global oil price crash, geopolitical tensions, climate change, global COVID pandemic and rising population have all taken a toll on Nigeria’s economy that is almost entirely dependent on drastically reduced oil export earnings.”

The party said the growth recorded during the PDP years was due entirely to high price of crude oil and increased government spending that it supported.

It wrote, “It is noteworthy that between 2007-2014, Nigeria earned $531.2 billion under the PDP, compared to $287.8 billion under APC between 2015-2022.

This drastically reduced export earnings under the APC administration was even further stretched thin by the country’s population surge from 184 million in 2015 to 229 million in 2024.

“Despite the huge revenues available to it, successive PDP administrations neglected to address underlying structural challenges and distortions in the economy leaving the country vulnerable to economic shocks and volatility.

“Had the PDP undertaken a sustained programme of economic reform as President Tinubu is currently engaged, Nigeria’s economic situation would be far better than it is today.

“But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.”

APC argued that Tinubu’s administration’s focused and determined efforts to tackle the country’s challenges through diversification, massive infrastructure development, social welfare, agricultural revolution and sustained improvements in national security, are certain to accelerate Nigeria’s resurgence, create jobs and lift millions of our people out of poverty.

“Quite contrary to Obi’s jaundiced and gloomy analysis, in the last one year alone, the country has attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside recording an all-time high N6.52 trillion trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024 marking a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits.