Vice President Kashim Shettima has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, describing him as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”.
Shettima made the remarks on Wednesday during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Referring to Obi as “my very good friend”, the Vice President mocked his frequent comparisons between Nigeria and other countries, particularly Bangladesh.
“He seems convinced that a size 36 shirt tailored for Bangladesh will somehow fit Nigeria’s size 52 frame,” Shettima said.
He argued that Obi’s reliance on foreign comparisons overlooked the differences in population, economic structures, institutions and national circumstances between countries.
“Governance is an art that demands mastery of context, whether social, economic, political or institutional,” he said.
“What succeeds in Bangladesh cannot simply be transplanted to Nigeria without accounting for the differences in our population, economic structures, institutions and national circumstances.”
Shettima added that a country with more than 250 million people could not be governed using borrowed statistics and economic prescriptions that failed to reflect its peculiarities.
The Vice President also accused Obi of making an unsupported claim about winning the 2023 presidential election, describing the assertion as a “bogus claim”.
“This is called delusion of grandeur. Our contest is with the politics of yesterday dressed as tomorrow’s deliverance,” he said.
Obi has repeatedly cited Bangladesh while criticising the Tinubu administration’s economic management, including its borrowing policy. In February, he argued that Nigeria’s problem was the mismanagement of funds rather than borrowing itself.
Obi contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform and finished third behind President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He challenged Tinubu’s victory in court, but the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal and affirmed Tinubu’s election in October 2023.
Obi is seeking the presidency again in the January 16, 2027 election under the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
Meanwhile, the APC is scheduled to begin its presidential campaign in Kaduna on October 24.
