·    Accuses ex-Anambra gov of denigrating country at Johns Hopkins

·    Defends Tinubu’s track record of fighting privation 

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

In a rare intervention, the governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, took on the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, claiming the former Anambra State governor lacks the moral right to talk about poverty in Nigeria.

In a statement he personally signed, titled, “Factually Addressing Mr. Peter Obi’s Criticism of Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University,” Sanwo-Olu accused Obi of contributing to the current poverty in the country, and alleged that under him as governor in Anambra State, the menace grew astronomically.

During his remarks at Johns Hopkins University, Obi had drawn a comparison between Nigeria, China and Vietnam in the area of poverty, stressing that Nigeria, with about 50 million poor people, had the least number of people in poverty in 1990 than any of the three countries. 

Obi argued, “The question then is, what exactly did these countries do to be able to achieve the desired growth and development? That is where political leadership comes in.

“These comparable nations, and, indeed, other progressive nations, unlike Nigeria, have competent leadership with character, capacity and compassion, committed to prioritising investment in critical areas of developmental measures: education, health, and pulling people out of poverty.”

But Sanwo-Olu said Obi not only de-marketed Nigeria by openly “denigrating” the country abroad, but also made statements that he had no moral standing to make.

The Lagos State governor stated, “On Thursday, April 24, 2025, former Governor Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate for the 2023 election, was at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he made several disparaging comments about Nigeria. 

“He made unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian government, but also about Nigeria. I also find Mr. Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively. 

“They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about.”

Sanwo-Olu stated that because Obi focused on poverty and said the current administration’s policies were making Nigerians poorer, he will concentrate on that.

He stressed that any leader could fight poverty generationally by promoting education, improving healthcare, providing credit, and granting access to land. 

According to Sanwo-Olu, “Now, 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 or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that. 

“I say this because the president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions. 

“In less than two years, he has provided over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises.”

While he was governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, Sanwo-Olu said Tinubu reduced poverty by more than 46 per cent, and explained that there was every reason to believe that based on what he did as governor of Lagos, he will repeat the same feat at the federal level. 

“After all, the best predictor of the future is the past,” he wrote.

The governor alleged, “But let us examine the messenger, not just the message, and look at the issuer as well as the issues. Mr. Obi talks a good game. But was he able to reduce poverty while he governed Anambra? Perhaps we can let the facts speak for themselves. 

“Under Peter Obi as a two term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4 per cent. 

“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7 per cent. But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60 per cent to 14.8 per cent. 

“As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins. Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria. Governor Tinubu, as he then was, was responsible for lifting millions out of poverty. Being that that is the case, who should criticise who?”

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