Obi’s Media Office to APC: Ordinary Nigerians Have Got Nothing from Tinubu Apart from Hardship

The Media Office of the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Party (NDC), Peter Obi, has said the lives of ordinary Nigerians had not improved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

In a statement issued yesterday, the spokesperson for the Obi Media Office, Idris Zekeri, who was responding to a recent remark by the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, asked the party to explain what Nigerians benefited from Tinubu since he was elected president in 2023.

The spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, had criticised Obi, the standard-bearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), for claiming he won the 2023 presidential election.

Alake said Obi’s remarks were troubling, arguing that a presidential candidate should substantiate election claims rather than make unsubstantiated assertions.

Zekeri asked Alake to focus less on disputing Obi’s claim and more on the Tinubu administration’s performance.

He said millions of Nigerians cared more about the impact of the government’s policies on their lives than the political dispute over the 2023 election results. 

“What significance does an electoral victory have if it fails to bring meaningful improvements to the lives of the people? he asked.

“What has that ‘victory’ delivered to ordinary citizens apart from escalating economic hardship, higher living costs, worsening poverty, and intensifying insecurity under a government marked by grandiosity and corruption?

“We recognise that the courts affirmed the official result of the 2023 presidential election. Nevertheless, a legal victory does not amount to successful governance, nor does it place an administration beyond public examination and accountability.”

Zekeri said winning an election should not be regarded as an end in itself but as a responsibility to improve citizens’ welfare.

“Leadership should be judged not by the ability to win or appropriate an election or defend its result in court but by the capacity to transform political authority into concrete outcomes,” Zekeri said.

He asked Alake to account for the administration’s record, particularly on the economy, security, and the cost of living.

“Where is the relief Nigerians were promised? Where is economic prosperity? Where are the security, affordability, and renewed hope that responsible leadership should provide? Zekeri asked.

“Victory should be measured not by what politicians celebrate at the polls but by what people can celebrate in their homes, workplaces, farms, and communities.” 

Zekeri asked the APC-led government to focus on delivering tangible results instead of attacking opposition figures.