Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ripped into former Anambra governor and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, accusing him of deepening poverty instead of fighting it — and branding him a hypocrite for attacking President Bola Tinubu’s government abroad.
The clash erupted after Peter Obi, speaking at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, criticized Nigeria’s leadership, blaming Tinubu’s administration for driving more citizens into poverty. But Sanwo-Olu fired back with facts and fury, declaring that Obi’s own record is riddled with failure and betrayal of the people he claims to defend.
Sanwo-Olu didn’t mince words. He exposed how under Obi’s watch as governor, Anambra’s poverty rate ballooned from 41.4% to a staggering 53.7%. Instead of building prosperity, Obi’s government plunged thousands into deeper misery. According to Sanwo-Olu, Obi’s successor, Willie Obiano, succeeded where Obi failed — slashing poverty down to 14.8%, a turnaround that highlighted Obi’s disastrous performance.
Calling Obi’s international speeches “unpatriotic,” Sanwo-Olu accused him of shamelessly tarnishing Nigeria’s image abroad for political points. He questioned how a man who failed to build a single major school or hospital during eight years in office could lecture others on good governance or economic revival.
Drawing a sharp contrast, Sanwo-Olu praised Tinubu’s record, recalling how Tinubu transformed Lagos, Africa’s fifth largest economy, with policies that educated children, supported small businesses, and built lasting infrastructure. He pointed out that in under two years, Tinubu’s federal government had already provided massive student loans and unleashed over half a billion dollars in credit facilities for entrepreneurs.
Sanwo-Olu shredded Obi’s credibility further, accusing him of talking endlessly but delivering nothing of substance. “Mr. Obi contributed to the rise of poverty in Nigeria,” he said, adding that Tinubu, as Lagos governor, lifted millions out of it.
Sanwo-Olu’s verdict was blunt: Peter Obi has no standing to criticize anyone on poverty, governance, or leadership. His legacy, Sanwo-Olu insisted, is not of hope, but of hardship — and Nigerians should see through the smokescreen of sweet speeches and remember the real facts.
