Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been driving democracy backward as the system has been in recession since he took over two years ago.

In a statement released on Thursday, June 12, Obi said after a comprehensive look at the two-year reign of President Tinubu, it is safe to conclude that a lot is not right in governance and policy delivery of the administration.

Obi rated the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration low in virtually all indices of governance including corruption, prudence, economy insecurity and politics, during the period under review.

Speaking further, Obi noted that despite the trillions of naira purportedly saved from the removal of fuel subsidy, Tinubu's government has, within two years, borrowed far more money than the administrations of President Umaru Yar’Adua, President Goodluck Jonathan, and President Muhammadu Buhari combined.

He said:

“Today, Nigeria’s overall public debt is estimated at close to N188 trillion. Nigerians were informed that these borrowed funds would be allocated to critical sectors of development. Still, there has been no significant improvement in education, healthcare, or poverty alleviation; critical sectors that are vitally important for national development.

“Brazen corruption is at its worst under this administration. Nigeria has now become a crime scene. Now our national budget is routinely inflated and padded without consequences. One of the most glaring manifestations of this is the extensive padding of the 2025 national budget. BudgIT revealed that about N7 trillion was questionably inserted by the National Assembly. These figures suggest a pattern of inflated costs and misappropriation of funds.”