Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Nigerian general election, has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of using manipulated statistics to obscure Nigeria’s worsening economic crisis.
In a statement shared on his official X account on Monday, Obi accused the government of reliance on inaccurate data to paint a falsely optimistic picture of the nation’s economic health, leaving millions of Nigerians struggling to survive.
“President Tinubu is now overfeeding Nigerians with wrong statistics—from wrong unemployment figures, wrong inflation figures, and now GDP rebasing, all to put a positive spin on our deteriorating economic and household conditions,” Obi declared, also referencing Tinubu’s 2022 campaign promise to prioritize tangible outcomes over numerical data.
Obi recalled Tinubu’s dismissive remark during a campaign speech in Delta State, where the thencandidate mocked Obi’s reliance on statistical data, saying, “Na statistics we go chop? All I want is to put food on the table of Nigerians.”
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State known for his frugal governance and data-driven approach, highlighted the irony of Tinubu’s shift to using what he called “misleading data” to mask economic failures.
“Now two years into his four-year tenure, Nigeria is classified as one of the hungriest nations in the world, with millions of Nigerians not knowing where their next meal will come from,” Obi stated, in contrast to Tinubu’s promises and Nigeria’s current reality.
The Labour Party leader’s remarks come amid growing public frustration over Nigeria’s economic challenges, including soaring inflation, and widespread poverty. Obi’s statement resonated with many Nigerians, particularly his strong supporters, known as the “Obidients,” who have long championed his calls for accountability and transparency.
