Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has taken a firm jab at former Anambra State governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, accusing him of contributing to Nigeria’s poverty crisis during his tenure.
Sanwo-Olu’s response follows Obi’s recent remarks during a lecture at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he claimed that Nigeria had more poor people than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam combined. Obi had also posted an excerpt from the lecture on his social media handle, sparking reactions across political lines.
Reacting in a statement, Sanwo-Olu described Obi’s comments as another example in a “disturbing pattern of behaviour” aimed at projecting a negative image of Nigeria internationally. He further questioned Obi’s moral standing to critique the current federal administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as governor of Anambra, would criticise the government of Nigeria, which is actively addressing those exact challenges,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Highlighting Tinubu’s track record, the Lagos governor praised the president for building over 200 schools, providing student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates, and issuing over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises in under two years.
“While he was Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, President Tinubu reduced poverty by more than 46%. There is every reason to believe he will replicate this nationally,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
Turning his focus to Obi’s record, Sanwo-Olu said the poverty rate in Anambra increased under Obi’s leadership, from 41.4% in 2007 to 53.7% two years into his tenure. He contrasted this with the performance of Obi’s successor, Willie Obiano, who, according to him, reduced the state’s poverty rate to 14.8% within five years.
“Under Peter Obi as a two-term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu maintained that Obi lacks the moral authority to lecture the nation on poverty alleviation.
Obi, who governed Anambra from 2006 to 2014, has not yet responded to the governor’s claims. His time in office was marked by legal battles that disrupted parts of his tenure.