Tinubu using misleading data to conceal economic crisis – Peter Obi

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of manipulating economic data to mask Nigeria’s worsening economic situation.

In a post shared via his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday, Obi alleged that Tinubu has resorted to “overfeeding Nigerians with wrong statistics” in a bid to distract from the reality of growing hunger, inflation, and economic hardship under his administration.

Obi recalled that during the 2023 campaign, Tinubu openly mocked his data-driven approach to governance, questioning the value of statistics when basic needs like food remained unmet. “In November 2022, while campaigning in Delta state, Tinubu said he was ashamed to call my name and mocked me, saying, ‘Na statistics we go chop? All I want is to put food on the table of Nigerians,’” Obi wrote.

“Now, two years into his four-year tenure, Nigeria is ranked among the hungriest nations in the world, with millions unsure of where their next meal will come from,” he added.

The former Anambra State governor alleged that the president is now relying on manipulated figures — including those relating to unemployment, inflation, and GDP — to portray a misleadingly optimistic economic outlook.

“President Tinubu is now overfeeding Nigerians with wrong statistics — from unemployment figures to inflation rates and now GDP rebasing — all to paint a rosy picture of our deteriorating economic and household conditions,” he said.

Obi emphasized that effective governance demands honesty, competence, and compassion. “Governance is not rocket science. It is not a gamble. It requires sincerity of purpose, character, competence, capacity, and compassion,” he stressed.

His remarks come amid continued criticism of the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, with many Nigerians grappling with rising costs, weakened purchasing power, and high rates of food insecurity.