Lagos APC Defends Tinubu, criticising Olawepo-Hassim’s claims on Nigeria’s economy as misleading and selective
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim over his assertion that Nigeria’s economy performed better under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan than under President Bola Tinubu.
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The statement was released in Lagos on Friday, February 6, 2026, and signed by APC Lagos spokesperson Seye Oladejo.
The party described Olawepo-Hassim’s comments as “misleading, selective, and intellectually shallow,” suggesting the commentator either lacks understanding of public sector economic management or deliberately misrepresented historical data for political purposes.
Highlighting past administrations, the Lagos APC argued that Obasanjo and Jonathan presided over periods of record-high oil revenues, robust external reserves, and comparatively lower population pressures, yet failed to implement structural reforms to shield the economy from future shocks.
The statement pointed to a collapsed power sector, heavy import dependency, and a fuel subsidy system rife with corruption as enduring challenges left by the Jonathan administration.
Oladejo said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not inherit an economic system in comfort; he inherited structural distortions that previous administrations lacked the political courage to address. Critical measures, including subsidy removal and foreign exchange market unification, were inevitable corrections long postponed.”
The Lagos APC emphasised that the current administration’s policy choices are guided by long-term economic stability rather than political optics, warning against “revisionist narratives” that reduce the economy’s complexity to nostalgia or selective criticism.
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The party concluded that history would ultimately credit President Tinubu for decisive leadership and courageous reforms, asserting that critics relied on selective memory while the administration acted with clarity and conviction.
