By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has tackled the Labour Party (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, over his comment on the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Recall that Peter Obi, during a media chat on Thursday, asserted that the country’s political, economic and security situation is worsening daily, contrary to the positions of Tinubu’s government.

According to him, Nigeria has 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.

In response, the ruling party, in a statement on Thursday through its Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Peter Obi’s claim is misleading, especially when all indicators show that the country is rebounding in significant measures which casts the former Governor of Anambra State squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.

Morka also criticized Peter Obi for projecting himself as omniscient and a philosopher’s stone when addressing national challenges, stating that he left no significant achievements or transformations in his eight years at the Government House in Awka, Anambra State.

According to him, while Nigerians celebrated the new year with hope for a glorious 2025, Obi was seemingly stuck in a replay of his jangling, gloom-ridden wishlist for the country.

Morka added that, like his co-travellers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi’s obsessive pessimism and endless but futile efforts to incite public outrage against Tinubu’s administration are borne out of their realization that the President is unwittingly cementing their ultimate political irrelevance through his visionary, full-throttle reform and transformation of the nation’s fundamental pillars.

The statement read, “Obi’s New Year message, in which he claimed that the political, economic and security situation of our dear country is worsening daily, is misleading and appears 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.

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

“In his New Year message, President Bola Tinubu acknowledged that the “cost of food and essential drugs remained a significant concern for many Nigerian households.” To reverse this trend, Mr. President assured that his administration was committed to lowering food prices by boosting food production and promoting local production of drugs.

“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-travellers in the People’s 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.”