Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of deceiving Nigerians with manipulated economic statistics, despite the country’s worsening hunger and poverty levels.
In a statement on Monday on his X account, Obi condemned the Tinubu administration for presenting inaccurate data to paint a false picture of progress, while millions of Nigerians continue to suffer.
“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 said.
He recalled Tinubu’s 2022 campaign statement in Delta State, where the then APC presidential candidate mocked his use of statistics and data-driven policy proposals.
“In November 2022, while campaigning in Delta State, the then APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, now the President, berated the other Presidential Candidate (Peter Obi)—he was ashamed to call my name—saying, ‘Na statistics we go chop? All I want is to put food on the table of Nigerians’,” Obi recounted.
“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,” he added.
The former Anambra State governor emphasized that governance is not a game of chance but a serious responsibility that demands competence and integrity.
“Governance is not rocket science. It’s not a gamble. Like I have always reiterated, it requires sincerity of purpose, character, competence, capacity, and compassion,” Obi stressed.
He concluded with his trademark message of hope, declaring, “A new Nigeria is POssible.”
