The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has clapped back at Peter Obi, former Anambra governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, for saying he could have done better than President Bola Tinubu.

However, the party remained silent on Mr Obi’s remarks about Mr Tinubu’s past controversies involving alleged cocaine trafficking and certificate scandals.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Felix Morka, the ruling APC berated Mr Obi for claiming he would have done better than Mr Tinubu but did not address Mr. Obi’s reference to Mr Tinubu’s alleged past misdeeds.

“Mr Obi’s favourite retort, ‘I would have done better as president,’ must be a symptom of a protracted bout of election failure-induced hangover from which he has not awakened to the reality that he is not the president. Like an unlicensed backseat driver that thinks himself to be a race car driver, Mr Obi needs to tame his bloated and deluded imagination,” the statement said.

The ruling party added, “It is hysterical that Mr Obi, who was governor of a failed and forgotten administration in Anambra State, a state with only 21 local government areas, would so brazenly boast of his capacity to govern Africa’s largest democracy. Obi bequeathed a sordid legacy of economic stagnation, infrastructural decay, ecological disaster, and religious polarisation.”

The APC’s response follows Mr  Obi’s interview on Arise TV on Tuesday, where he criticised Nigeria’s political system for running contrary to democratic principles. He lamented that Mr Tinubu and others with alleged criminal records and certificate forgeries were in charge.

“In a democracy, there is a guideline for people vying for election. Like in Nigeria’s case, people must be qualified. They must have primary school, secondary school, university, and attain a certain age,” said the former Anambra governor. “That is not happening today. People with unverified forged certificates are all over the place, with criminal records, and they are in charge.”

Mr Obi, who came third in the 2023 presidential election according to official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and upheld by the Supreme Court, said Nigeria lacked an effective legislature and independent judiciary necessary for a functional democracy.