The former governor of Anambra State said Nigeria has sunk deeper into distress under the present administration, becoming widely regarded as a failing and disgraced nation.
Former Anambra State Governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of destroying Nigeria through poor leadership, institutional decay and policies that have worsened poverty, disunity and democratic decline.
Obi stated this on Wednesday, while delivering a statement titled “It Is Now Time for National Unity and Prosperity,” at his official defection to ADC.
The former governor of Anambra State said Nigeria has sunk deeper into distress under the present administration, becoming widely regarded as a failing and disgraced nation.
According to Obi, Nigeria under President Tinubu is experiencing worsening insecurity, rising unemployment, fiscal recklessness and a collapse of public trust in governance.
He said the country’s democratic institutions have been weakened, with governance now characterised by impunity, manipulation and disregard for the rule of law.
“Our democracy is under threat. Our nation is adrift. Our people are in persistent agony,” Obi said, adding that Nigeria is now recording negative outcomes across all major indicators of good governance, including accountability, political stability, control of corruption and government effectiveness.
He lamented that more than 130 million Nigerians are living in multidimensional poverty, while over 80 million youths remain unemployed, a situation he attributed to ineffective and dishonest leadership under the current administration.
Obi said the Tinubu government has failed to provide inclusive governance and has instead presided over increased hardship and national disunity.
Obi also criticised the administration’s fiscal policies, describing them as exploitative and harmful to ordinary Nigerians. He pointed to the ongoing controversy surrounding the tax reform law, which he said has been admitted by the National Assembly to have been forged in its gazetted version.
According to him, the government is attempting to impose higher taxes on already impoverished citizens based on a compromised legal framework.
“It is bad fiscal policy for the government to make the people poorer and still tax them more,” Obi said, warning that taxing poverty would only deepen suffering and further destroy national cohesion.
He accused the Tinubu administration of rewarding illegality and corrupt practices, while punishing merit and competence, arguing that Nigeria’s decline is not the fault of its citizens but the result of betrayal by those in power.
“Nigeria is not poor; we are looted into poverty. Nigeria is not broken; we are severely betrayed,” he said, describing the current government as one that thrives on division, dishonesty and indifference to the suffering of the people.
Obi concluded that the present administration has failed to lead or serve Nigerians, insisting that without honest, transparent and unifying leadership, Nigeria will continue on a path of decline rather than progress.