Lagos APC rebuts Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim, defending Tinubu’s economic policies over claims comparing Obasanjo and Jonathan’s administrations
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday strongly criticised Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim over his assertion that Nigeria’s economy performed better under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan than under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
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In a statement signed by the party’s spokesperson, Seye Oladejo, the Lagos APC described Olawepo-Hassim’s comments as “misleading, selective, and intellectually shallow,” suggesting he either lacks understanding of public sector economic management or deliberately misrepresented historical data for political purposes.
The party argued that the Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations presided over periods of record-high oil revenues, robust external reserves, and comparatively lower population pressure, yet failed to implement structural reforms to safeguard the economy from future shocks.
“The Obasanjo and Jonathan governments benefited from historic oil booms, generating hundreds of billions of dollars from crude exports,” the statement read.
“Despite these advantages, they neglected economic diversification, failed to stabilise the power sector, and continued the unsustainable fuel subsidy regime and multiple exchange rate system.”
Highlighting the Jonathan administration, Lagos APC cited enduring challenges inherited by subsequent governments, including a collapsed power sector, a heavily import-dependent economy, fuel subsidy corruption, and an emerging currency crisis before 2015.
The party emphasised that President Tinubu assumed office facing structural distortions that previous administrations lacked the political courage to address.
Measures such as subsidy removal and foreign exchange market unification were described as necessary corrections rather than experimental policies.
“Nigeria’s economy is too vast, too complex, and too consequential to be reduced to nostalgia or selective criticism. This is about the economic well-being of over 200 million citizens,” the statement added.
The Lagos APC warned against revisionist narratives and maintained that history would credit President Tinubu’s decisive leadership over populist critique.
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“When critical decisions were required, President Tinubu acted with courage, clarity, and conviction, while critics relied on selective memory and convenient amnesia,” it concluded.
