Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, has criticised
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, over recent
remarks on Nigeria’s poverty rate.
Last Thursday, Obi, a former Anambra governor, spoke at the
Johns Hopkins University in the United States on the topic: ‘Politics and
Change in Nigeria’.
During his presentation, the former governor claimed that
Nigeria has more poor people than Indonesia, China, and Vietnam.
Obi posted a snippet of his presentation on X.
Reacting in a statement, Sanwo-Olu criticised Obi over a
“disturbing pattern of behaviour” which “de-markets Nigeria on the global
stage”.
The Lagos governor said given Obi’s performance during his
stint in office, he has lost the moral authority to criticise the President
Bola Tinubu administration.
“Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who
did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his
eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit
facilities, would criticise the Government of Nigeria, which is actively doing
that,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“I say this because the President of Nigeria, President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as Governor of Lagos and now President of
Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than
200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“In less than two years, he has provided over half a billion
dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises.
“While he was Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007,
the President reduced poverty by more than 46%.
“There is every reason to believe that, based on what he did
as Governor of Lagos, he will repeat the same feat at the federal level. After
all, the best predictor of the future is the past.
“But let us examine the messenger, not just the message, and
look at the issuer as well as the issues.
“Mr. Obi talks a good game. But was he able to reduce
poverty while he governed Anambra? Perhaps we can let the facts speak for
themselves.
“Under Peter Obi as a two term Anambra Governor, poverty in
Anambra increased. It did not reduce.
“Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June
14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4%.
“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in
Anambra jumped to 53.7%.
“But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter
Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in
Anambra from almost 60% to 14.8%.
“As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed
to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins.
“Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria.
Governor Tinubu, as he then was, was responsible for lifting millions out of
poverty.”
Obi was Anambra governor between 2006 and 2014. He endured a
staccato reign due to a series of legal battles.
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Sanwolu, you are too small to match Obi's skill of facts and statistics when economy is on the front burner of discussion. Just shut up.
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