Group to Obi: President Tinubu did not manufacture data in comparing Nigeria with Kenya.
The Democratic Front (TDF) has said it was amused by the manner of politics played by the former Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and his analyses of issues in the public space.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, TDF specifically pointed to his comments on President Bola Tinubu’s comparing Nigeria to Kenya and argued that it shows a haste to jump on issues to sound intelligent
“We recall that Mr Obi introduced the art of using fabricated statistics to justify false narratives, during the 2023 electioneering campaigns, when he contested as the Labour Party presidential candidate.
“Obi’s inconsistency and desire for referencing inaccurate data when criticising government policies or actions know no bounds. He was reputed for repeatedly comparing Nigeria with any other country that suits his narratives, irrespective of differences in social, economic or political variables between the countries.
“It is an unfortunate journey in ignorance for Peter Obi to see everything wrong with Tinubu comparing Nigeria with a fellow African country like Kenya, which gained independence from the British in 1963, and which is also an anglophone country with a similar economic model and experience, and one of the most enduring democracies in black Africa.
“He however sees everything right in comparing the country with China, which is a world of difference in macroeconomic, political, moral, and ancestral orientation and history when compared with Nigeria,” it said.
TDF argued that President Tinubu was right to benchmark Nigeria with Kenya
“We believe that it was appropriate for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to compare Nigeria with Kenya in view of similarities in economic challenges and geopolitical affinity.
“It is necessary to add that Kenya and Nigeria recently implemented tax reforms to boost national revenue generation capacity but while the tax reform succeeded in Nigeria, it went awry in Kenya, leading to the worst civil violence in the history of the country, which left scores of people dead and injured.
“Furthermore, the current price of petroleum in Kenya is KES 178.28 per litre in Kenya currency, equivalent to N1,866.59 per litre in Nigeria currency. Whereas the current price for petrol in Nigeria is N1, 296 per litre, coupled with the fact that Kenya and South Africa largely depend on refined petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, for both their economic and industrial survival.
“We find it necessary to rescue former Governor Obi, from his penchant for stumbling in the dark on state and economic matters, by urging him to know that deliverables and economic milestones cannot be accurately measured through economic benchmarking, comparative economic analysis, cross-country economic comparison, relative economic assessment, and economic juxtaposing, without references to verifiable statistics and data.
“In other words, we posit that President Tinubu was right to have compared the progress achieved in Nigeria with Kenya and the other nations that are within Nigeria’s hemisphere.
“It is important for Nigerians to understand the political scam that Peter Obi represents. He pretends to know much about macroeconomics and nation building, but often fails to acknowledge economic achievements whenever reality beckons on him to do so,” the statement added.
