‘What has Tinubu achieved?’ Obi’s camp tackles Alake over 2023 election
The Peter Obi Media Office has challenged Dele Alake, a spokesman for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, to explain the achievements of the president since his victory in the 2023 presidential election.
In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr., the media office urged Alake and the APC Presidential Campaign Council to focus less on disputing Obi’s claim that he won the election and account for the administration’s performance.
The statement questioned the benefits of the president’s electoral victory to Nigerians amid rising living costs, poverty and insecurity.
“As Alake focuses on disputing Obi’s claim, millions of Nigerians are evaluating the substance of the mandate President Tinubu has assumed,” the statement said.
It added, “What has that ‘victory’ delivered to ordinary citizens apart from escalating economic hardship, higher living costs, worsening poverty, and intensifying insecurity under a government marked by grandiosity and corruption?”
The media office argued that electoral victories should be assessed by their impact on citizens rather than the ability of political parties and candidates to win elections or defend their results in court.
“What significance does an electoral victory have if it fails to bring meaningful improvements to the lives of the people?” it asked.
“Winning an election is not an objective in itself; it confers a responsibility to govern effectively and enhance citizens’ welfare. Leadership should be judged not by the ability to win or appropriate an election or defend its result in court but by the capacity to transform political authority into concrete outcomes.”
The office acknowledged that the courts affirmed the official result of the 2023 presidential election but maintained that the judicial outcome did not exempt the administration from public scrutiny.
“We recognise that the courts affirmed the official result of the 2023 presidential election. Nevertheless, a legal victory does not amount to successful governance, nor does it place an administration beyond public examination and accountability,” it said.
It also urged Alake to explain the administration’s record instead of concentrating on criticism of the former Labour Party presidential candidate.
“Instead of devoting so much attention to attacking Peter Obi, we call on Alake to explain the record of the administration he represents. Where is the relief Nigerians were promised? Where is the economic prosperity? Where are the security, affordability, and renewed hope that responsible leadership should provide?” the statement asked.
According to the media office, Nigerians are more concerned about the worsening cost of living and their declining purchasing power than prolonged political disputes over the 2023 election.
“Nigerians have little interest in perpetual political disputes as their purchasing power declines and the daily struggle to survive becomes more severe,” it said.
The statement further challenged Alake to respond to what it described as the central question Nigerians were asking about the president’s performance.
“Dele Alake should respond to the question Nigerians are asking: What has Tinubu done with his ‘electoral victory’, if not oversee conditions that many citizens experience as one hardship after another?”
It added that the value of electoral victories should be measured by improvements in people’s daily lives.
“Victory should be measured not by what politicians celebrate at the polls but by what people can celebrate in their homes, workplaces, farms, and communities,” the statement said.
The media office concluded by calling for a government focused on delivering results and accounting for its performance rather than attacking opposition figures.
“Nigeria deserves a government that produces results, not one whose defenders are more focused on discrediting the opposition than accounting for the nation’s condition,” it said.
