Tinubu, Obi, APC Spar Over State of the Nation

The New Year 2025 has opened with drama and a high-wired political spar between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a leading opposition figure, Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election that produced President Bola Tinubu as the winner.

Tinubu’s Assessment and Outlook

In his New Year message to the nation, President Tinubu promised hope and listed a few of his government’s economic indices and targets for the year. He said, “Though 2024 posed numerous challenges to our citizens and households, I am confident that the New Year will bring brighter days.

Economic indicators point to a positive and encouraging outlook for our nation. Fuel prices have gradually decreased, and we recorded foreign trade surpluses in three consecutive quarters. Foreign reserves have risen, and the Naira has strengthened against the US dollar, bringing more excellent stability.

The stock market’s record growth has generated trillions of Naira in wealth, and the surge in foreign investment reflects renewed confidence in our economy. Nevertheless, the cost of food and essential drugs remained a significant concern for many Nigerian households in 2024.

In 2025, our government is committed to intensifying efforts to lower these costs by boosting food production and promoting local manufacturing of essential drugs and other medical supplies. We are resolute in our ambition to reduce inflation from its current high of 34.6% to 15%. With diligent work and God’s help, we will achieve this goal and provide relief to all our people.

In this new year, my administration will further consolidate and increase access to credit for individuals and critical sectors of the economy to boost national economic output. The Company—expected to start operations before the end of the second quarter—is a partnership of government institutions, such as the Bank of Industry, Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Agency, and Ministry of Finance Incorporated, the private sector, and multilateral institutions.

This initiative will strengthen the confidence of the financial system, expand credit access, and support under-served groups such as women and youth. It will drive growth, re-industrialisation, and better living standards for our people.

On a personal note, thank you for placing your confidence in me as your President. Your trust humbles me, and I promise to continue serving you diligently and wholeheartedly. We will continue to embark on necessary reforms to foster sustainable growth and prosperity for our nation.
Twenty-four hours later, in his New Year’s statement at a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Mr Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, tackled Tinubu’s leadership and his management of the nation’s economy, pointing out gaps between what the President says and what occurs in the country.

Peter Obi’s Evaluation of Tinubu’s Performance

In deconstructing the achievements enumerated by the President, Mr Peter Obi said on the cost of governance that there was a disconnect between what the President says and what he does: “People need to see it; they need to feel it.” He said the President’s inflation target of 15 per cent would be felt when prices of rice and beans come down below the National Minimum wage, “It is not about what you say but what you do.” He observed that inflation remained at an all-time high, with businesses collapsing and manufacturing companies barely surviving, further contributing to the already high unemployment rate.

In his opening speech, Mr Obi said: “As we begin the New Year 2025, it has become imperative for me to speak to you as a Nigerian interested in the country’s progress. The political, economic, and security situation of our country is worsening daily, despite contrary positions and claims by the government of improvement in different spheres of human endeavour.

“Our national challenges are visibly worsening. Our nation and its fortunes are in clear reverse. The indices indicate our decline: our national indices tell a disconcerting story. Nigeria remains one of the poverty capitals of the world, with over 100 million people living in extreme poverty and more than 150 million in multidimensional poverty.

“Our current GDP is less than 50% of what it was a decade ago, standing at approximately $200bn, with a per capita income of barely $1,000. Nigeria remains one of the most insecure and least peaceful nations in the world, with countless communities and families displaced from their homes and now living in IDP camps.

“According to the Global Peace Index (GPI), Nigeria ranks 143rd out of 163 countries in terms of peacefulness – an indication of a high level of distress,” he said. “The political, economic and security situation of our country is worsening daily, despite contrary positions and claims by the government of improvement in different spheres of human endeavour.

“Nigeria remains one of the poverty capitals of the world, with over 100 million people living in extreme poverty and more than 150 million in multidimensional poverty. The situation has deteriorated significantly over the past 18 months under the current administration. As a nation, we have fallen from being the largest economy in Africa, with a GDP of $574 billion and a per capita income of over $3,500 in 2014, to now ranking fourth on the continent. Our current GDP is less than 50% of what it was a decade ago, standing at approximately $200 billion, with a per capita income of barely $1,000.”

“For those living on the margins—low-income earners and the unemployed—the situation is even more dire. The newly approved minimum wage of N70,000 cannot afford a bag of rice or even half a bag of beans. As a result, many Nigerians go to bed hungry, while many now rely on palliatives and charitable support.

“Tragically, this has recently led to several avoidable deaths. Nigeria’s ranking on the 2024 Global Hunger Index is 110th out of 127 countries, reflecting a critical level of hunger and food insecurity in the nation,” Obi said.

He lamented that Nigeria had earned the dubious distinction of having the highest number of people without access to electricity. He said that in 2024, despite abysmal and unacceptable power generation and distribution, the frequency of national grid collapse increased significantly, with the grid failing 12 times in 12 months. “As a result, we are now mockingly called the ‘generator country’. This persistent lack of adequate energy supply hinders our national development.”

APC Counters Allegations of Poor Economy Performance
The ruling All Progressives Congress party has countered Mr Peter Obi’s woeful verdict on governance and the economy saying on the contrary, “all indicators show that our country is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors, casts Obi, squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.”

In a statement by the party’s spokesman, Felix Morka, APC said Obi’s New Year message was misleading and intended to score cheap political points. “This claim, at a time when all indicators show that our country is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors, casts Obi, squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.

“In reality, 18 months later, the economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has showed a steady record of progress – the massive balance of trade surpluses; trillions in stock market wealth creation; a surge in foreign direct investments as a result of increased confidence in the economy; enhanced foreign reserve; significant decline in debt servicing ratio from 90 percent to about 64 percent; higher incomes for farmers; massive increase in federal allocation to states and local governments; deliberate and patriotic efforts to plug leakages and shore up the nation’s revenue base; restart of moribund Port-Harcourt and Warri refineries; remarkable improvement in oil production and export of petroleum products; the decimation of terrorist leaders and improvement in the security situation, and numerous other measures to meet the $1trillion economy target of this administration.

“Despite these and other initial beneficial outcomes of ongoing unprecedented reforms, the administration is doubling its effort to ensure that the reforms deliver their most entire benefits for our country’s sustainable growth and transformation.

“With the vigour in the administration’s war on corruption, evidenced by ongoing investigations and trial of well-heeled Nigerians, Obi’s pontification on the urgent need to tame corruption is a clear case of carrying coal to Newcastle.

“It is a thing of irony that Peter Obi, who now arrogates to himself to be omniscient and philosopher’s stone, when it comes to our nation’s challenges, left no record of significant achievement, let alone transformation of any kind, in his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra State.

“Like his co-travelers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obi’s obsessive pessimism and endless but futile effort to incite public outrage against the administration is borne out of their realization that President Tinubu is unwittingly cementing their ultimate political irrelevance by his visionary and full-throttle reform and transformation of the fundamental pillars of our national life,” the statement further added.

The APC said under the banner of the Renewed Hope Agenda, President Tinubu was dutifully turning the nation’s fortunes around: “He deserves the support and patience of Nigerians to consolidate on the deep economic foundation he has laid and deliver a vibrant, prosperous new Nigeria for the good of all.  We urge Nigerians to remain confident of better days ahead,”