The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the assessment of the state of Nigeria’s economy by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi was based on half truth and misinformation.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka in a statement issued yesterday said Obi has once again showcased his obsessive devotion to self promotion against the best interest of Nigeria.
He noted that his warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration was highly revisionist and dishonest.
Morka noted: “Mr. Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.
“He opined, rather mischievously, that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country.”
The party’s spokesperson stressed that the facts tell a far more complex and different story.
He maintained that the country’s economic decline began under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with GDP growth plummeting from 7.98 percent in 2010 to 2.79 percent in 2015.
Morka added that since 2015, the global oil price crash, geopolitical tensions, climate change, global COVID pandemic and rising population have all taken a toll on Nigeria’s economy that is almost entirely dependent on drastically reduced oil export earnings.
He was of the opinion that the growth recorded during the PDP years was due entirely to high price of crude oil and increased government spending that it supported.
Morka said: “It is noteworthy that between 2007-2014, Nigeria earned $531.2 billion under the PDP, compared to $287.8 billion under APC between 2015-2022.
“This drastically reduced export earnings under the APC administration was even further stretched thin by the country’s population surge from 184 million in 2015 to 229 million in 2024.”
The ruling party stressed that despite the huge revenues available to it, successive PDP administrations neglected to address underlying structural challenges and distortions in the economy leaving the country vulnerable to economic shocks and volatility.
He said had the PDP undertaken a sustained programme of economic reform as Tinubu is currently engaged, Nigeria’s economic situation would be far better than it is today.
Morka stressed: “But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.
“Quite contrary to Obi’s jaundiced and gloomy analysis, in the last one year alone, the country has attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside recording an all-time high N6.52 trillion trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024 marking a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits.
“Mr. Obi must know that inflaming passion and mobilizing outrage through false and manipulative narratives are not legitimate tools of opposition politics.
“ Expecting President Tinubu to accomplish total transformation of Nigeria in one year, a feat he failed miserably to accomplish in eight years as Governor of Anambra state, is the height of disgraceful hypocrisy.”