APC To Obasanjo: Tinubu’s Reforms Not Cause Of Nigeria’s Poverty

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assessment of President Bola Tinubu’s eco­nomic reforms, describing his po­sition as an oversimplification of Nigeria’s economic realities.

The party, through its spokes­man, Seye Oladejo, in an interview with Saturday Independent , ar­gued that the country’s economic challenges predated the Tinubu administration, insisting that suc­cessive governments contributed to the structural weaknesses cur­rently confronting the nation.

Oladejo was reacting to Obasanjo’s remarks at the Fi­nancial Times Africa Summit in London that Tinubu’s reforms had made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world and left Nigerians 300 per cent poorer.

The Lagos APC spokesman said it was misleading to attribute Nigeria’s long-standing economic problems solely to an administra­tion that had chosen to address deep-rooted structural distortions.

“With due respect to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, I consider that assertion an oversim­plification of Nigeria’s economic realities and an attempt to attribute long-standing structural challeng­es to an administration that has chosen to confront them,” he said.

According to Oladejo, Nigeria’s economic difficulties did not begin with Tinubu’s administration but had accumulated over several years under successive govern­ments.

He identified unsustainable fuel subsidies, distortions in the foreign exchange market, mount­ing fiscal pressures and excessive dependence on oil revenue as some of the factors that contributed to the country’s present economic situation.

The APC spokesman main­tained that Tinubu took difficult decisions to address these distor­tions rather than continue policies he described as economically un­sustainable.

He, however, acknowledged that the consequences of the reforms had imposed significant pressure on households, stressing that the hardship experienced by Nigerians should not be trivialised.

“However, there is a difference between acknowledging economic hardship and declaring economic reform a failure,” Oladejo said.

He argued that an assessment of the reforms should go beyond the immediate economic difficul­ties to examine whether the poli­cies were correcting structural weaknesses, stimulating invest­ment, strengthening government finances and laying the foundation for sustainable economic growth.

On Obasanjo’s description of Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, Oladejo said such char­acterisations should not replace evidence-based assessments of the country’s economic performance.

“The phrase ‘poverty capital of the world’ is a political descrip­tion, not a substitute for rigorous economic analysis,” he said.

He called for greater scrutiny of credible poverty statistics, real household incomes, purchasing power, employment and access to basic necessities in determining the impact of government policies on Nigerians.

Oladejo further maintained that Tinubu’s administration should ultimately be judged by whether its policies translate into a more productive economy and im­proved living standards for citizens.

“The APC remains confident in the direction of reform, but we also recognise that the ultimate justifi­cation for any economic policy is its positive impact on the lives of the people,” he added.

Nigeria has faced significant cost-of-living pressures amid the removal of petrol subsidies and changes to the foreign exchange regime under Tinubu’s adminis­tration. These measures have been defended by the government as nec­essary steps towards addressing fiscal imbalances and improving economic efficiency, even as house­holds and businesses contend with higher costs.

The debate over the reforms has continued to generate contrasting views among political leaders, economists and other stakehold­ers, particularly over whether the long-term benefits will outweigh the immediate hardships experi­enced by Nigerians.

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