Sanwo-Olu accuses Peter Obi of lacking the moral right to criticise Nigeria’s poverty situation, citing his poor record in Anambra.
In a rare intervention, the governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Sunday, took on the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, claiming the former Anambra State governor lacks the moral right to talk about poverty in Nigeria.
In a statement he personally signed, titled, “Factually Addressing Mr. Peter Obi’s Criticism of Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University,” Sanwo-Olu accused Obi of contributing to the current poverty in the country, and alleged that under him as governor in Anambra State, the menace grew astronomically.
During his remarks at Johns Hopkins University, Obi had drawn a comparison between Nigeria, China and Vietnam in the area of poverty, stressing that Nigeria, with about 50 million poor people, had the least number of people in poverty in 1990 than any of the three countries.
Obi argued, “The question then is, what exactly did these countries do to be able to achieve the desired growth and development? That is where political leadership comes in.
“These comparable nations, and, indeed, other progressive nations, unlike Nigeria, have competent leadership with character, capacity and compassion, committed to prioritising investment in critical areas of developmental measures: education, health, and pulling people out of poverty.”
But Sanwo-Olu said Obi not only de-marketed Nigeria by openly “denigrating” the country abroad, but also made statements that he had no moral standing to make.
The Lagos State governor stated, “On Thursday, April 24, 2025, former Governor Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate for the 2023 election, was at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he made several disparaging comments about Nigeria.
“He made unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian government, but also about Nigeria. I also find Mr. Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively
. “They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about.”
Sanwo-Olu stated that because Obi focused on poverty and said the current administration’s policies were making Nigerians poorer, he will concentrate on that.
He stressed that any leader could fight poverty generationally by promoting education, improving healthcare, providing credit, and granting access to land.
