Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has expressed deep concerns over the worsening political, economic, and security conditions in Nigeria, which he claims continue to deteriorate despite the current government’s assertions of improvement.
During a media chat on Thursday in Abuja, Obi emphasized the need for selfless leadership in 2025, citing the country’s national decline. “As we step into 2025, it’s clear that our national challenges are worsening. Our political, economic, and security indices reveal a story of decline, not progress,” Obi stated.
Obi pointed out that Nigeria remains one of the poverty capitals of the world, with over 100 million people living in extreme poverty and more than 150 million in multidimensional poverty. He noted that Nigeria has regressed significantly over the past 18 months under the current administration.
From being Africa’s largest economy in 2014, with a GDP of $574 billion and a per capita income above $3,500, Nigeria now ranks fourth on the continent, with a GDP of approximately $200 billion and a per capita income below $1,000. The country also ranks 143rd out of 163 nations in the Global Peace Index, indicating widespread insecurity.
Obi stressed that food insecurity has become the norm, with most Nigerians, particularly in middle and lower-income brackets, spending nearly their entire income on food. He criticized the current minimum wage of N70,000 as insufficient to cover basic needs like food and warned of the rising cases of hunger and preventable deaths across the country.
The former governor of Anambra also highlighted Nigeria’s ongoing electricity crisis, lamenting that the country has become known as the “generator country” due to persistent power shortages and frequent national grid collapses.
Obi further criticized the administration for rising corruption, fiscal mismanagement, and escalating national debt, which has ballooned from N15 trillion in 2015 to N100 trillion today. He argued that much of the borrowing had been allocated to non-regenerative programs with minimal developmental impact.
Obi also voiced concerns over Nigeria’s flawed electoral processes, describing the country’s elections as lacking transparency and failing to reflect the true will of the people. He called for urgent electoral reforms and leadership change in 2025 to tackle these pressing challenges.
