Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, blast 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. You did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout your eight-year tenure as governor of Anambra. You lack moral stand to criticize the Tinubu government, Sanwo-Olu tackles Peter Obi.
Recall that Obi was at the Johns Hopkins University last week and during his speech, he drew a comparison between Nigeria, China and Vietnam in the area of poverty and stressed that poverty has increased since the Tinubu administration came into office in 2023.
Responding to Peter Obi in his statement released on Sunday, Sanwo-Olu said
“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. Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that.
I say this because the president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions. In less than two years, he has provided over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises.”
