Tinubu Should Quit 2007 Race, Says Big Tent
The Big Tent Coalition led by Prof. Pat Utomi has taken a swipe at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for its latest spurious demand that Peter Obi should withdraw from the 2027 presidential race over a recycled, thoroughly discredited claim of $123.77 million external loans.
A statement by the Director of Media and Communications for The Big Tent Coalition, Charles Odibo, said: “This is both desperate and revealing, confirming what many Nigerians already know – that when confronted with its own record of failure, the ruling party resorts to falsehood, deflection, and character assassination.”
According to Big Tent, it is not surprising that the APC Presidential Campaign Council, through its spokesman, Dele Alake, has chosen to rely on the “spurious, unsubstantiated, and clearly false accusations released by the Anambra State Government under Governor Chukwuma Soludo. Falsehood, deception, and cover-ups have long been the stock-in-trade of this administration and its principal, President Bola Tinubu.
“From disputed real names and conflicting birth dates to unresolved questions about primary and secondary education, university records, and employment history at Deloitte, Tinubu’s entire personal biography remains shrouded in discrepancies and deliberate opacity. A political machine that thrives on such murkiness naturally reaches for the same tools when challenged.”
Odibo stated that what is more revealing is that a government which has failed Nigerians on virtually every measurable human development index now has the temerity to demand that Obi quit the race. Instead of showcasing accomplishments, the APC is reduced to manufacturing scandals.
“Since this administration took office in 2023, Nigerians have watched education standards continue to decline, healthcare systems buckle under neglect, poverty deepen to historic levels, unemployment soar, insecurity claim more lives and territories, and critical infrastructure decay further. These are not abstract talking points; they are the lived daily reality of millions.”
The Coalition also recalled President Tinubu’s own public pledge that Nigerians should not vote for him for a second term if he failed to deliver uninterrupted electricity supply. But it notes that today, power generation and distribution are worse than when he assumed office. “By his own standard, therefore, the question is not why Peter Obi should remain in the race, but why Bola Tinubu is still contesting 2027,” stated Odibo
According to Big Tent, for the record, the so-called external loans attributed to Obi’s administration between 2006 and 2014, which the APC campaign council has latched onto, are a complete misrepresentation of verifiable facts. Here are the components, according to the Coalition:
1. The Nigeria Malaria Control Booster Project (MCBP) 2007 was financed through a US$180 million IDA credit from the World Bank to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Anambra was merely one of seven participating states. The Federal Government was the borrower, not Anambra State.
2. Fadama III was a World Bank/IDA-financed national project. Anambra participated as one of the states. Again, the Federal Government was the borrower.
3. Health Systems Development II (Additional Financing) was a Federal Government project from which Anambra State simply benefited.
4. The State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), which began in 2013 and included Anambra, was financed by a US$150 million IDA credit to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Funds reached Anambra, Bauchi and Ekiti through subsidiary agreements. The Federal Government was the borrower.
5. The Community and Social Development Project (P090644): World Bank project completion reports identify the Federal Government of Nigeria as the borrower of the original IDA financing. Anambra was one of the participating states.
6. The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP): The original financing agreement was between the International Development Association and the Federal Republic of Nigeria for US$600 million. Anambra operated a State Project Management Unit as a participating state. The Federal Government was the borrower.
7. The Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP): The financing agreement was signed between the Federal Government of Nigeria and IFAD in August 2012. The original programme covered Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Ogun and Taraba. The Federal Government was the borrower.
8. Overall Verdict: Every single project listed by the Soludo-led Anambra State Government as evidence of independent loans contracted by the Obi administration is 100 per cent false and deliberately misleading. Verifiable World Bank and IFAD records confirm that the Federal Government was the borrower in each case. Anambra State under Peter Obi participated and benefited exactly as other states did. Peter Obi did not borrow a single kobo from any Nigerian bank, nor did he directly borrow any dollar from any foreign agency. Anyone in doubt is free to verify these facts with the Debt Management Office.
Big Tent Coalition further notes that President Tinubu’s legitimacy itself remains under serious scrutiny following the recent revelations by the election monitoring platform Mundx.com. That analysis established that 48 per cent of the 2023 presidential election result sheets on the IReV portal were not uploaded from BVAS machines but from over 800 different phone devices, in clear violation of the law.
In Oru-East Local Government Area of Imo State, more than 100 polling units had no agents from any political party according to the Form EC8A documents themselves, yet the APC won virtually all of them.
Those results were uploaded from just two locations — one in Omuma and another on the Owerri–Port Harcourt road, the site of the state INEC office. Photographs of the Form EC8A documents from those units were taken a day after the election, not at the polling units. “What legitimacy is attached to a presidency that emerged through such a process?” he asked.
According to Odibo, even on a direct comparison of their respective governorship records, Peter Obi’s stewardship in Anambra between 2006 and 2014 stands head and shoulders above Bola Tinubu’s record in Lagos on critical human development indices – education outcomes, healthcare access, poverty reduction, relative peace and security, fiscal prudence, and the building of savings rather than the accumulation of opaque debts.
The Big Tent also stated that independent data continues to expose the ruling party’s insecurity. The SBM Intelligence Voter Sentiment Tracker, conducted across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, recorded Peter Obi with a +58.3 net favourability rating while Bola Tinubu stood at –58.5. Obi led on favourability in every zone except the North-east. A subsequent June report showed the NDC, associated with Obi and Kwankwaso, substantially ahead of both the APC and the ADC when respondents were asked about party and coalition preference. Reuters reported in August that nearly 80 per cent of Nigerians surveyed said the country was heading in the wrong direction, citing economic hardship and insecurity as leading concerns.
According to Odibo, the APC’s call for Peter Obi to quit is therefore “not an act of principle but is an admission of fear. A government that has failed on development, broken its own electricity pledge, and whose emergence remains clouded by documented electoral irregularities has no moral standing to lecture anyone on honour or fitness for office”.
Big Tent restated that its position is clear – “it is Bola Tinubu, not Peter Obi, who should reconsider his place in the 2027 race. Nigerians deserve better than recycled falsehoods and a desperate attempt to silence the candidate whose record and popularity most threaten the status quo.”