Lagos APC hits Olawepo-Hassim over claims on Nigeria’s economic performance

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has criticised Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim over his claim that Nigeria’s economy performed better under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan compared to the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement released on Friday and signed by the party’s spokesperson, Seye Oladejo, the Lagos APC described Olawepo-Hassim’s comments as “misleading, selective, and intellectually shallow,” suggesting that he either lacks understanding of public sector economic management or deliberately misrepresented historical economic 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 that could have shielded 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.”

According to the Lagos APC, these governments entrenched consumption-driven policies without corresponding productivity growth, leaving the economy vulnerable to volatility.

Highlighting the Jonathan administration, the party cited enduring challenges inherited by subsequent governments:

“The Jonathan government left office with a collapsed power sector despite billions in expenditure, a heavily import-dependent economy, a fuel subsidy system rife with corruption, and an emerging currency crisis before 2015. These are documented facts, not opinions,” the statement emphasised.

The party stressed that President Tinubu assumed office facing an economy propped up by unsustainable subsidies, foreign exchange arbitrage benefiting select interests, and a fiscal framework inadequate for a nation of over 200 million citizens.

“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,” the Lagos APC said.

Defending the current administration’s policy choices, the party underscored the necessity of subsidy removal and foreign exchange market unification.

“These measures were not experiments, they were inevitable corrections long postponed by administrations more concerned with optics than outcomes,” the statement said.

The Lagos APC also warned against “revisionist narratives” and urged the public not to mistake political commentary for rigorous economic analysis.

“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,” it added.

The statement also asserted that history would ultimately credit President Tinubu’s decisive leadership over populist critique.

“When critical decisions were required, President Tinubu acted with courage, clarity, and conviction, while critics relied on selective memory and convenient amnesia,” the Lagos APC said.