The Vice-President criticises Obi’s economic comparisons with other countries and challenges his claims about the 2023 presidential election.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has criticised former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi over his use of economic statistics and comparisons with other countries, describing him as the “master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”.
Shettima made the remarks on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja.
The Vice-President argued that economic policies and performance indicators from other countries could not automatically be applied to Nigeria without accounting for differences in population, institutions and economic structures.
Shettima challenges Obi’s economic comparisons
Using a clothing-size analogy, Shettima likened Obi’s comparisons to attempting to fit a shirt made for Bangladesh onto a much larger Nigerian population.
“A country of over 250 million people cannot be governed through borrowed statistics and economic prescriptions detached from its peculiarities,” Shettima said.
His argument was that Nigeria’s scale and circumstances required policies tailored to its own conditions rather than comparisons that ignored important differences.
The comments add to the political exchanges between the ruling party and opposition figures over the direction of the economy and the credibility of competing policy proposals.
Whether individual comparisons are appropriate, however, depends on the specific data, indicators and policy questions involved. International comparisons can provide useful context when differences in population, income, institutions and measurement are properly considered.
Vice-President questions Obi’s election claims
Shettima also challenged Obi over claims relating to the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
“I respect Peter Obi, but he has gone beyond his mastery of philosophy to make bogus claims about winning the 2023 presidential elections without adducing a shred of evidence,” he said.
The remark represents Shettima’s political criticism of Obi. The official outcome of the 2023 election and the legal proceedings that followed are matters of public record and should be distinguished from the competing political interpretations of the result.
Political exchanges intensify ahead of 2027
The remarks came as the APC began organising its campaign structure for Tinubu’s re-election bid, with senior party figures using the inauguration to rally supporters and challenge opposition leaders.
Obi remains a prominent opposition figure, and his economic arguments have featured prominently in national discussions about public spending, productivity, employment and the cost of living.
The exchange underscores how economic policy and competing interpretations of Nigeria’s electoral history are likely to remain central themes as the 2027 election approaches.