The former Director-General of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has commended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, asserting that neither his former principal, Peter Obi, nor the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, could have handled the nation’s economic crisis better.
During his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Okupe argued that, in hindsight, Tinubu was uniquely suited among the top candidates to tackle Nigeria’s economic challenges.
“By benefit of hindsight, none of the three major candidates who ran for that election, except for Tinubu, could have faced this quagmire we are in and have the heart to breast it,” Okupe stated. “They don’t even have the knowledge and the resources to do what he is doing now.”
Responding to whether his current stance might seem like a betrayal of Obi, whom he once championed as the best candidate, Okupe denied any change of loyalty, noting that his earlier support was based on assumptions that have since shifted.
“That was why I said by the benefit of hindsight. There is no betrayal. Has Peter Obi told you what he would do if he was president? Talk is cheap,” he remarked. “It is not as if I don’t believe in Peter Obi. He was a damn good candidate when we got him. But we lost that election, and a better man won. It is a competition. I thought Obi was better than Tinubu. That was what I thought.”
Okupe added that meeting Tinubu on Sunday reinforced his belief in the president’s ability to steer the economy toward stability.
“Seeing what Bola Tinubu is doing and his disposition, especially after meeting him yesterday, I am more than convinced that if this gentleman is given understanding and time, he is going to get us out of this problem,” he said.
Asked about his past association with Atiku, Okupe dismissed any personal issues with the former vice president but critiqued Atiku’s claims of having a better plan.
“I am telling you, none of these other two people (Atiku and Obi) could have done better than him. That is why I said talk is cheap. Fuel subsidy has been on the table for the last 20 years. Nobody had the nerve to even try to do it,” Okupe argued.
Okupe also questioned the feasibility of Atiku’s economic proposals, including a $35 billion borrowing plan.
“I read Atiku’s proposition. He said if he was president, he would borrow $10 billion and another $25 billion to do something. That makes $35 billion. Who is going to lend you money? By the time Buhari was leaving, Nigeria was not sellable. Nobody was going to give Nigeria $1 billion anywhere,” Okupe explained.
Highlighting the economic challenges Tinubu inherited, Okupe emphasized the former administration’s actions, including printing 21 trillion naira in a desperate attempt to keep the economy afloat.
“Only a brave man, one with mental resources and confidence in himself, can do what Bola Tinubu is doing,” Okupe concluded.
