The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has replied former presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023 election that Nigerian were full of confidence better days ahead under President Bola Tinubu.
The party was reacting to Peter Obi’s new year message where he lamented the state of the economy in Nigeria.
In a statement released Thursday evening, signed by the party’s spokesman, Felix Morka, APC said Obi’s new year message was 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.
“In reality, 18 months later, the economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has showed steady record of progress – massive balance of trade surpluses; trillions in stock market wealth creation; a surge in foreign direct investments as a result of increased confidence in the economy; enhanced foreign reserve; significant decline in debt servicing ratio from 90 percent to about 64 percent; higher incomes for farmers; massive increase in federal allocation to states and local governments; deliberate and patriotic efforts to plug leakeages and shore up the nation’s revenue base; restart of moribund Port-Harcourt and Warri refineries; remarkable improvement in oil production and export of petroleum products; the decimation of terrorist leaders and improvement in the security situation, and numerous other measures to meet the $1trillion economy target of this administration.
“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.
Mindful of the threat that the current inflation rate poses to our economy, President Tinubu had also vowed to crash it from 34 percent to 15 per cent in course of this fiscal year.
“With the vigour in the administration’s war on corruption, evidenced by ongoing investigations and trial of well-heeled Nigerians, Obi’s pontification on the urgent need to tame corruption is a clear case of carrying coal to Newcastle.
“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.”
The APC said under the banner of the Renewed Hope Agenda, President Tinubu was dutifully turning the nation’s fortunes around.
“He deserves the support and patience of Nigerians in order to consolidate on the deep economic foundation he has laid, and deliver a vibrant, prosperous new Nigeria for the good of all.
“We urge Nigerians to remain confident of better days ahead.”
