Sunday Dare, a special adviser to President Bola Tinubu, is under fire after he claimed former president Olusegun Obasanjo led the most corrupt administration in Nigeria.

Tinubu’s aide wrote a highly critical piece against Obasanjo, claiming that the public was unhappy with his contributions to Nigeria’s current hardship.

“His journey along the path of hallucinations has never been in doubt. So is his descent into muddling facts, forgetting that he ran a Presidency on record as the most corrupt,” Dare wrote on X on Monday. He was responding to Obasanjo’s recent disapproval of Tinubu and former president Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership.

With Nigeria’s rising cost of living occasioned by the unfavourable economic policies of the Tinubu-led administration coupled with insecurity and other burgeoning challenges, Dare’s post was largely met with pushback from Nigerians on X.

Former President Obasanjo is a man with a tremendous capacity for mischief and Nigerians know it. His journey along the path of hallucinations has never been in doubt. So is his descent into muddling facts, forgetting that he ran a Presidency on record as the most corrupt. His…— Sunday Dare,CON (@SundayDareSD) November 18, 2024

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Dare claimed that the former president “wasted a whopping $16bn in generating megawatts of darkness across the nation”. He also said that successive administrations tried to “clean up the mess Obasanjo left behind, which President Tinubu is now making progress with”.

Many Nigerian social media users were not convinced. They opined that even though Obasanjo’s administration was not perfect, it was much better than Tinubu’s.

Jimi Disu, a veteran broadcast journalist, told Dare while reacting to his post, “Obasanjo is past. Your principal is present. He is not up to scratch. So what will you guys do?”

For @Oluomoofderby, “Obasanjo is still the best President in our history. When are you going to talk about the mess Buhari did? Buhari administration was a big setback for our country. Obasanjo wasn’t perfect but still the best all day long.”

@OfficiaEdoOsasB said, “Obasanjo’s tenure wasn’t great but still far better than APC Buhari and Tinubu combined.”

Another user, @Ezeifeka_Obinna, wrote: “After 2027, I will also write a long thread about how Tinubu’s administration put me out of business, reduced my purchasing power to from 10 to two.”

“His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president, still scores highly amongst his peers in the leadership role since our democracy started in 1999. No president has been close to his achievements, not even President Buhari or Mr IGR, aka emi lokan. Maybe you should share with us Buhari’s achievements,” stated @iamchrizten.

Tola Olaosebikan, with the X handle @tola2tees, wrote Dare’s claim regarding the $16 billion was false.

“Allegations have now turned into narratives. I urge you to review the findings of both the probe panel and the EFCC regarding the power sector investigation, which have since become public documents,” Olaosebikan responded to Dare.

“Only $1.7 billion was disbursed to contractors by the time Obasanjo left office in May 2007 for Turnkey projects involving feasibility studies, engineering designs, procurement, construction, installations, and operations across six zones of the country.

“In total, there were 27 major contracts — seven related to NIPP and 18 for gas turbines. Much more, even on transmission, NEPA unbundling, and others. The total amount spent on completing the NIPP projects up until the end of the Jonathan administration was less than $5 billion.

“Today, Nigerians and the power sector are significantly benefitting from these investments. Power generation capacity, which languished around 2,800 megawatts for decades, has now increased to approximately 5,000 megawatts,” he added.

X users like @PureStanley1 said: “Tinubu and Buhari are the worst thing to ever happen to Nigerians. They took our economy that was growing by 7% annually in 2015 to a decline Obasanjo’s presidency was the only time Nigeria ever had a president. I’d advise you put some respect on his name.”

@AdeyemiGCFR, who felt Dare failed to address salient issues, said: “Same vague strategy to issues. Nigerians would have expected you to address the issues raised without battering words with the former President. OBJ deserves his flowers and Nigerians still accord him his respect. His is far better than Tinubu in all ways, just the hard truth!”

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“At this point in his administration, OBJ had the economy growing at an average 5.5% Year-on-Year (YoY) while pursuing reforms which birthed a vibrant middle class. Tinubu is scratching at 2.8% at N1,700/$1. Tinubu better be growing this economy by 15% like Obasanjo in 2002. You will respect OBJ!” disclosed @solomonapenja.

“The drug dealer in Aso Rock can never lace the shoes of Olusegun Obasanjo,” @Idrisigne wrote.

“One served this country twice, a nationalist, putting us on the path of prosperity. Tinubu, an incompetent tribal bigot was selling drugs on the street of Chicago, destroying lives just as he’s doing now.”

According to X user @IdamEni, “The worst thing that ever happened to Nigeria is Tinubu, Buhari and APC forcefully taking over the reins of affairs in Nigeria.”

@IdanEni also stated that many Nigerians could testify that President Tinubu would “never measure up to Obasanjo”.

Like @IdamEni, @thebardogbamola wrote: “Sunday, even in your dreams. You and Tinubu will never be half the man Obasanjo is.”

Obasanjo’s speech, delivered at the annual Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University, derided current Nigerian politicians. He described the 2023 general election as a “travesty” and called for the improvement of the electoral system.
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