Vice President Kashim Shettima has criticized former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, describing him as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions.”
Shettima made the remarks on Wednesday during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Referring to Obi as “my very good friend,” the vice president ridiculed his tendency to compare Nigeria with other countries, particularly Bangladesh.
Shettima stated. “He seems convinced that a size 36 shirt tailored for Bangladesh will somehow fit Nigeria’s size 52 frame.”
He said Obi’s “fascination with foreign comparisons overlooks the peculiarities that distinguish one nation from another.”another.”
According to Shettima, “Governance is an art that demands mastery of context, whether social, economic, political, or institutional.”
“What succeeds in Bangladesh cannot simply be transplanted to Nigeria without accounting for the differences in our population, economic structures, institutions,, and national circumstances.
“A country of over 250 million people cannot be governed through borrowed statistics and economic prescriptions detached from its peculiarities.”
Shettima said he respected Obi but accused him of falsely claiming to have won the 2023 presidential election without providing evidence to substantiate it.
“This is called delusion of grandeur. Our contest is with the politics of yesterday dressed as tomorrow’s deliverance,” he said.
Obi has regularly mentioned Bangladesh in his criticism of the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, especially borrowing.
In February, he stated that Nigeria’s difficulty was fund mismanagement, not borrowing.
Obi competed as the Labor Party’s candidate in 2023, finishing third behind Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar.
He disputed Tinubu’s victory in court, but the Supreme Court denied his case and upheld Tinubu’s election in October 2023.
Obi is running for president again in the January 16, 2027 election, on the ticket of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
