Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has criticized Peter Obi, former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, over his recent comments on Nigeria’s economy at Johns Hopkins University, United States.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Sanwo-Olu described Obi’s remarks as both unpatriotic and ironic, citing Obi’s own record on poverty reduction while in office.
Sanwo-Olu argued that although Obi spoke extensively about poverty, it is crucial to assess his performance as Anambra’s Governor between 2006 and 2014.
Referencing official data, Sanwo-Olu claimed that Anambra’s poverty rate worsened during Obi’s tenure.
“During Peter Obi’s two terms as Anambra Governor, poverty in the state increased rather than decreased. When he assumed office on Thursday, June 14, 2007, Anambra’s poverty rate stood at 41.4%. However, just two years later, it had risen to 53.7%,” Sanwo-Olu wrote.
Sanwo-Olu compared Peter Obi’s record with that of President Bola Tinubu, noting that Tinubu, as Lagos State Governor from 1999 to 2007, reportedly cut poverty by over 46%, a feat Sanwo-Olu believes he is now replicating at the national level.
He pointed to several initiatives under Tinubu’s administration, including the construction of over 200 schools, the provision of student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates, and the distribution of over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as evidence of efforts to fight poverty and boost economic growth.
Sanwo-Olu further criticized Obi’s tenure, claiming he neither built a standalone hospital or school nor implemented sustainable credit schemes to support people with low incomes.
Sanwo-Olu also noted that Obi’s successor, Willie Obiano, successfully reduced Anambra’s poverty rate from nearly 60% to 14.8% within five years, emphasizing that effective governance is possible with the right leadership.
“Mr. Obi contributed to the rise in poverty in Nigeria, while Governor Tinubu, as he then was, lifted millions out of it. Given these facts, who should be criticizing whom?” Sanwo-Olu asked rhetorically.
On Thursday, April 24, 2025, Peter Obi spoke at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he expressed concerns over rising poverty levels in Nigeria and criticized the Bola Tinubu administration’s economic policies.
Obi argued that since 1990, Nigeria has lagged behind its developmental peers and now has more people living below the poverty threshold than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam combined.
In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, Peter Obi stated that Nigeria’s backward slide was no accident but a consequence of repeated failures by political leaders to prioritize development-driven policies.
