Lagos APC Blasts Olawepo-Hassim Over ‘Shallow And Misleading’ Economic Claims

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim over comments suggesting that Nigeria’s economy performed better under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan than under President Bola Tinubu.

The party in a statement on Friday signed by its spokesman, Seye Oladejo, described Olawepo-Hassim’s remarks as “misleading, selective and intellectually shallow,” accusing him of either misunderstanding public sector economic management or deliberately distorting historical facts for political relevance.

According to the party, the administrations of Obasanjo and Jonathan governed during a period of unprecedented oil revenues, strong external reserves and relatively lower population pressure, yet failed to implement structural reforms that could have insulated the economy from future shocks.

“The Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations operated during historic oil booms and earned hundreds of billions of dollars from crude oil sales,” the party said.

“Despite this advantage, they failed to build economic buffers, diversify the economy, fix the power sector, or end Nigeria’s dangerous dependence on fuel subsidy and multiple exchange rates.”

The Lagos APC argued that rather than strengthening productivity, those governments entrenched a rent-seeking culture and expanded consumption without corresponding growth, leaving behind an economy ill-prepared for volatility.

Reacting specifically to the Jonathan administration, the party listed what it described as key failures inherited by subsequent governments.

“It is worth reminding Mr. Olawepo-Hassim that the Jonathan administration exited office with a collapsed power sector despite billions of dollars spent, an import-dependent economy vulnerable to oil price swings, a fuel subsidy regime riddled with corruption, and a currency crisis already unfolding before 2015,” the statement said.

“These are not opinions; they are facts on record,” the party stated.

The APC maintained that President Tinubu did not inherit a stable or prosperous economy, but rather a system sustained by what it called “economic deceit.”

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not inherit economic comfort,” the party stated.

The party argued that Tinubu “inherited an economy propped up by subsidies Nigeria could no longer afford, foreign exchange arbitrage that rewarded cronies, and a fiscal structure that was unsustainable for a nation of over 200 million people.”

Defending the administration’s policy choices, the Lagos APC said the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market were unavoidable reforms that previous governments lacked the political courage to implement.

“Unlike critics who offer hindsight criticism without responsibility, President Tinubu has confronted these distortions head-on,” the party said.

The APC explained that, “The removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market were not experiments; they were inevitable corrections postponed for decades by administrations more concerned with optics than outcomes.”

The party further warned against what it described as “revisionist narratives” and cautioned the public not to mistake political commentary for serious economic analysis.

“Nigeria’s economy is too large, too complex, and too consequential to be subjected to shallow nostalgia and casual judgments by individuals with no proven record of managing public resources at scale,” the statement said.

“This is not a classroom debate or a campaign slogan contest; it is about the economic survival of over 200 million Nigerians.”

The Lagos APC dismissed Olawepo-Hassim’s comments as “political noise dressed up as analysis,” insisting that history would favour decisive leadership over populist criticism.

“History will record that when hard decisions were required, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu acted with courage, clarity and conviction, while critics hid behind selective memory and convenient amnesia,” the party said.

Lagos APC Blasts Olawepo-Hassim Over ‘Shallow And Misleading’ Economic Claims is first published on The Whistler Newspaper