‘Those With Business When Tinubu Came In Now Sell Kuli-Kuli’ – Peter Obi

A former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said some Nigerians who supported President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 election are now facing hardship under his administration.

Naija News reports that Obi said that some business owners who had been thriving before Tinubu assumed office had lost their businesses and were now struggling to survive.

He spoke during an interview with Chude Jideonwo, published on Wednesday, in response to a question about whether the support base behind his 2023 presidential ambition had diminished.

According to him, his support has not reduced but increased, as more Nigerians continue to assess the performance of the current administration.

Obi said, “My fellowship has increased because those who jumped into, in quotes, some experiential thing… I was going to create the future.”

Obi argued that many Nigerians who supported Tinubu based on political experience and past records had changed their views after experiencing the realities of his administration.

He further stated, “Those who jumped into, in quotes, some experiential thing, ‘Oh, this man did this, this man did this’, I was going to create the future. I’ve seen that the whole thing was a mess.”

He added that the country’s hardship had made it difficult for anyone to claim that Nigeria was progressing.

Obi asked, “Nobody, nobody can tell you things are moving well. What are they going to do now?

“Those who had business when he came into power have collapsed. They are now the people who are selling kuli-kuli?” 

The former governor also criticised the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope agenda, claiming that the country had moved in the wrong direction since Tinubu assumed office.

“You’re talking of the Renewed Hope. It had become hopeless when President Tinubu came into power,” Obi said.

He alleged that poverty, hunger and insecurity had worsened under the current administration.

“Eighty-seven million Nigerians were living in poverty. Today, it’s one-fourth,” he said.

Obi also claimed that Nigeria’s position on the global hunger index had deteriorated.

“We were number five below where we are today in hunger list. We’ve increased. Everything has gotten worse. Like I said before, we’re no longer talking of ghosts walking around. You can see where we’ve gotten,” he added.

Obi said Nigerians were now judging the administration based on their personal experiences, especially as economic hardship and insecurity continue to affect households.

He said the government had failed to deliver the improvement it promised.

“Which hope are they going to renew again? You can’t renew failure, and that’s it,” Obi said.

Earlier in the interview, Obi defended his relationship with former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, after he was asked about concerns over Kwankwaso’s political structure.

Responding to a question on whether Kwankwaso’s structure was a “structure of criminality,” Obi described him as a politician who cared about the welfare of poor Nigerians.

Obi said, “Kwankwaso is one politician that I can say it anywhere who cares for the interest of the poor.

“He believes in pulling people out of poverty. He believes in training a child of nobody to become something, and that for me aligns with my position.”

Obi said education and human capital development remained the strongest foundation for national growth.

He further stated, “Truly, the biggest driver of development is education, human capital. It is not physical infrastructure, it’s human infrastructure.”