Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has once again criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration, stating that it has failed to deliver on its promises to Nigerians. Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election, expressed his disappointment over the lack of visible progress under the current government.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time program on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, Obi assessed the two-year performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. He stated that if he were in power, Nigerians would have seen significant improvements in critical areas such as corruption, governance, and economic policies.
“The President that is there today, how many years has he spent? Two years, and you could see where we are. That means you can change things in two years. If I was there in two years, you would have seen a considerable change in critical areas. I would have tackled corruption head-on. I would have reduced the cost of governance, and you would see it; people would feel it,” Obi declared.
Obi particularly criticized the government’s handling of public funds, arguing that borrowed money should be invested in critical sectors such as healthcare instead of unnecessary projects. He pointed out that Nigeria’s primary healthcare system is struggling, despite significant spending on non-essential infrastructures.
“Our primary healthcare today, 70 percent of it is not functional, and we spent over N35 billion on a conference center. Which conference? Who is coming for the conference? You need to invest your money properly. You would have been seeing borrowed money invested in critical areas,” he argued.
Comparing Nigeria to Bangladesh, Obi highlighted how the country’s large land size could be utilized to enhance agricultural production, particularly rice farming. He noted that Bangladesh, with only 148,000 square kilometers of land, produces about 60 million metric tons of rice annually, while Nigeria, despite having six times more land, produces less than 10 percent of that amount.
“In Bangladesh, a country with 148,000 km² of land is producing about 60 million metric tons of rice, and us, with over six times that size of land, cannot do 10 percent of that,” he remarked, suggesting that his administration would have prioritized agricultural reforms.
Obi also addressed President Tinubu’s decision to devalue the naira. While he agreed that currency devaluation is sometimes necessary, he criticized the way the policy was implemented, arguing that it was done without proper planning and economic productivity.
“There’s nothing wrong in devaluation, but I would have allowed the naira to float in an organized manner. There will be productivity. The idea of devaluing your currency, allowing it to float, is that you have productivity so you can export, so people can come and buy,” Obi explained.
He concluded that floating the naira without boosting local production has only worsened economic conditions in Nigeria. According to him, for currency devaluation to be effective, it must be accompanied by strong policies that encourage industrial growth and exports, something he believes the current administration has failed to do.
