Presidential candidate Peter Obi has faulted the recent World Bank report, which noted improvements in a few macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth and revenue generation.
According to him, the incompetent President Bola Tinubu-led APC government should not misinterpret or misrepresent this as evidence that Nigerians' standard of living is improving.
In a statement on Monday, Obi said Nigerians and even the World Bank know that the criteria for economic development are whether poverty is declining, whether jobs are created for our youths, and whether we are reducing acute inequality.
He pointed out that under President Tinubu, Nigeria's so-called ‘economic stability’ has not resulted in higher living standards, improved employment opportunities, or reduced poverty and inequality across Nigeria.
Obi stated that an economy is not truly stabilised simply because government revenue increases, foreign reserves strengthen, or GDP grows. He said stability exists when citizens can afford food, obtain healthcare, provide education for their children, and live with dignity.
"What comfort does higher revenue offer a mother who cannot provide her children with a nutritious meal? What does higher government revenue mean to a family forced to choose between purchasing food and paying for medicine? What benefit do celebrated reforms provide when ordinary Nigerians continue to bear intolerable costs and hardship?
"In the report titled ‘Beyond the Federal Purse: How Higher Revenues Reshaped State Priorities’, the World Bank noted that the Federal Government spent a whopping N7.7 trillion on debt interest payments alone in the first six months of 2026, from January to June. This represents about 124.2% of our total revenue of N6.2 trillion within the same period, with debt interest payments exceeding revenue by about N1.5 trillion. How do you explain the unsustainable debt crisis even with the exponential increase in revenue that we have had since 2023?
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"Imagine a situation where borrowing and revenue have exponentially increased but expenditure on capital projects reduced by about N700billion in the first half of this year. In comparison, the APC-led Federal Government spends about 11 times more on interest payments than on capital projects. The explanation is clearly attributed to reckless borrowing, corruption and incompetence of the President Bola Tinubu-led APC Government.
"President Bola Tinubu and his incompetent team must recognise that intentionally presenting and projecting incomplete economic statistics cannot replace the critical measure of how reform impacts the welfare of the people. A government cannot expect citizens to applaud statistics while they struggle to survive the effects of its policies. How do you celebrate when about 140 million Nigerians are classified as multidimensionally poor, with a recent UNDP report listing Nigeria as one of the countries where gains made in reducing poverty have been reversed," Obi said.
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