The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) over his criticism of the party’s nine-year rule, which he said “resulted in a sharp decline” in Nigeria’s prosperity.

In a statement on Tuesday by its spokesman, Felix Morka, the APC said Mr Obi used the former and current administration of President Bola Tinubu as the scapegoats for the country’s economic woes caused by the Peoples Democratic (PDP).

The party alleged that the major opposition party, PDP, neglected the country’s challenges despite huge available resources, thereby “leaving the country vulnerable to economic shocks and volatility.”

APC said Mr Obi failed to acknowledge President Bola Tinubu’s “thoughtful” policies due to his “selfish political desperation.”

“Had the PDP undertaken a sustained programme of economic reform as President Tinubu is currently engaged, Nigeria’s economic situation would be far better than it is today,” said APC.

It added, “But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.”

Mr Obi, a former Anambra governor, had knocked the APC, explaining that since the party took over the rein of power, the country has been retrogressing, and things, particularly the economy, had been worsening.

“Reports showed our GDP in 2023 stood at $375 billion with a per capita of $1700. In 2024, our estimated GDP declined further to $253 billion, with an estimated per capita of $1087. These trends and figures show how our nine-year journey since 2015 has resulted in a sharp decline in our national prosperity,” Mr Obi tweeted Monday.

However, the APC explained that despite Mr Obi’s criticism, it had been working hard to ensure the economy becomes stable, saying the LP presidential candidate was only attempting to cash on the current situation “to mobilise outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

It further explained that Mr Obi has continued unabashedly to showcase his obsessive devotion to self-promotion against the best interest of Nigeria.

“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade. He opined, rather mischievously, that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country.

“Mr Obi is a loquacious and disruptive backseat driver who has assigned himself an ignoble role of an embittered loser and spoiler. Economic challenges and hardship are a stark reality of most countries of the world today, both developed and developing. It is an existential condition that must be tackled and transformed. This is an arduous task that requires collective patriotic collaboration.

“Mr Obi must know that inflaming passion and mobilising outrage through false and manipulative narratives are not legitimate tools of opposition politics. Expecting President Tinubu  to accomplish the total transformation of Nigeria in one year, a feat he failed miserably to accomplish in eight years as Governor of Anambra state, is the height of disgraceful hypocrisy,” the party said.