Rufai Oseni is no one’s friends. The co-anchor of ARISE Television’s Morning Show went after Peter Obi this morning, stated that facts showed that rate of poverty actually increased when Obi served as Anambra State governor between 2006 and 2014.
Oseni made the remarks this morning during his assessments of the former presidential candidate of Labour Party, quoting his figures from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“Poverty actually increased in Anambra under Peter Obi. It’s a fact. Go and check NBS figures, from about the late 40-something percent to over 50-something percent,” he said.
Obviously, the fiery TV anchor sought to make objective assessments between Peter Obi and President Bola Tinubu for his immediate ans direct comparison. Again quoting NBS figures, Oseni pointed out the poverty needle also increased in Lagos State and, of course, other administrations across the country.
Bola Tinubu was Peter Obi’s counterpart, serving as governor of Lagos between 1999 and 2007. Under Tinubu, the rate of poverty increased to 63 percent.
“Did poverty increase in Lagos? Yes. Under President Tinubu, it increased to over 63 per cent,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that Obi achieved some significant results in education, having pushed Anambra to first position in first position in WAEC performance from 26th position.
“Did he do some other things? Yes. Did he take the state from 26 position to number one position in WAEC? Yes, there are facts to that,” Rufai Oseni said.
Arguing that Mr Peter Obi’s shortcomings as well as his achievements should be acknowledged, he pointed out Obi’s major obstacles ahead of 2027 presidential elections. According to him, it’s easy to make big policy proposals about electricity generation, industrial production, healthcare and fuel subsidy reforms. So far Peter Obi has failed to clarify what his intentions are in these areas, the anchor maintained.
“It’s not just to say, okay, keep subsidy. Then how will you taper out inflation,” he added.
Presidential candidates are used to making big, bogus statements during elections. Obi, Tinubu and others did so in 2023, and they’ve come again this time around. It’s so easy to promise removing fuel subsidy, for instance, and proceeding to keep that promise as President Tinubu has done. While removing the subsidy is a nice thing, it’s obvious that the policy was poorly articulated.