Peter Obi of the Labour Party says President Bola Tinubu has kept his campaign promises to continue where his party man and predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari stopped, messing up the economy and plunging the country into more debt.

“I would say that president Tinubu has kept to his campaign promises. Throughout the campaign, he consistently maintained that he will continue from where Buhari stopped and he’s done very well. I would say excellent. I’ll give him an excellent pass mark,” Mr Obi told Arise TV on Wednesday.

Speaking further, Mr Obi stated how Nigerian naira had declined and how food prices rose since Mr Tinubu assumed office.

Mr Obi said, “When he (Mr Tinubu) came, “Dollar was N460, it’s now N1,500. Fuel was N238, it’s now about N700. Diesel was 844, it’s now 1,415. A bag of rice was between N30,000 and N35,000, it is now about N80, 000. Garri was between N27,000 and N28,000, it is now between N49, 000 and N50,000. Our debt, like I mentioned, was N87 trillion. By the end of last year, it was actually N97 trillion, the highest we’ve gone within that short period. Now it’s over N100 trillion.”

Mr Obi lamented how Nigeria dropped from being Africa’s largest economy to being the fourth largest economy under Mr Tinubu’s watch, adding that “Every other thing has headed South. Is it insecurity? It has worsened. Corruption has worsened, adherence to the rule of law has worsened. Nepotism is at its highest.”

Mr Tinubu marked one year in office on May 29 with Nigerians lamenting economic hardship due to his policies, fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira lauded by experts and the International Monetary Fund as bold moves.

The Minister of information, Mohammed Idris, said that Nigerians were not benefitting from President Bola Tinubu government’s policies and programmes because they were unaware of its numerous opportunities.

“It is important to note that often, Nigerians are not aware of the opportunities arising from the implementation of government policies and programs,” Mr Idris said at the 2024 SYNOD of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria held in Abuja on Wednesday.

The minister added “For example, the Presidential Loan and Grant Scheme I mentioned earlier. Many ordinary Nigerians have benefited and are benefiting, without needing to have any ‘connection’ – all they did was to follow a simple application process. But first, they had to be aware of this opportunity, and how to apply and benefit from it.”