Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has firmly rejected allegations that he maligned Nigeria’s image during a recent lecture at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, arguing that highlighting the country’s socio-economic struggles is an act of patriotism, not sabotage.
Obi’s comments were in direct response to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who accused him of making “disparaging remarks” about Nigeria’s poverty situation—remarks Sanwo-Olu claimed were hypocritical, citing Obi’s own record as governor of Anambra State.
Speaking at a memorial lecture in honour of the late elder statesman Pa Edwin Clark in Abuja, Obi questioned the logic behind the criticism, pointing out that international institutions have independently validated the grim economic realities he cited.
“I spoke a few days ago and people said I’m demarketing Nigeria. When did telling the truth become a crime?” Obi said. “The World Bank reports that 75% of Nigerians in rural areas live in poverty. UNICEF says Nigeria has over two million malnourished children—the second-highest globally. Are they demarketing Nigeria too?”
He went further, saying that what should alarm Nigerians is not the exposure of the country’s issues, but the apparent erosion of democracy and integrity in public life.
“We’re no longer running a democratic state. Look at the Edo local government elections—everyone knows who really won, yet the process was openly compromised. We’ve turned the country into a crime scene,” he added.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, in a statement titled “Factually Addressing Mr. Peter Obi’s Criticism of Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University”, argued that Obi lacks the moral authority to speak on poverty, alleging that the poverty index rose during his tenure as governor. He also touted President Bola Tinubu’s initiatives in education and small business support as tangible efforts to curb poverty.
“It is disingenuous for someone whose policies did not reduce poverty in Anambra to now mount foreign stages and lecture Nigerians,” the statement read.
Also speaking at the Clark memorial, former President Goodluck Jonathan raised serious concerns about the recent wave of political defections and its implications for Nigeria’s democratic balance.
Jonathan warned that attempts to create a de facto one-party state through “political manipulation” rather than national consensus could ignite instability.
“One-party systems are not inherently evil. In Tanzania, Julius Nyerere used it to build national cohesion after independence. But it was by design—not accident,” Jonathan noted.
“In Nigeria’s case, if we are going to even consider that route, it must be deliberate and strategic. But creeping toward it through defections and coercion will only lead us into crisis.”
His remarks come amid a flurry of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in states like Delta, fueling speculation of an emerging one-party dominance.
The Presidency has dismissed these fears as “false and exaggerated,” insisting that the current administration remains committed to democratic plurality.
However, political observers warn that the trend of opposition erosion could shrink Nigeria’s political space, undermining checks and balances essential for democracy.
