Nigeria’s economic challenges and the relevance of international development comparisons have become a point of political disagreement, with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso defending Peter Obi’s use of economic statistics after Vice-President Kashim Shettima questioned his comparisons with other countries.
Kwankwaso, the Nigeria Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, defended his running mate during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday. He said he had reviewed figures Obi presented and found most of them accurate, rejecting Shettima’s suggestion that the presidential candidate relied on questionable data.
The disagreement followed Shettima’s remarks on Wednesday at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja. While describing Obi as a friend, the vice-president challenged the comparisons he made between Nigeria and other economies, particularly Bangladesh.
Shettima argued that the two countries operate under different circumstances, questioning whether lessons drawn from Bangladesh could be applied directly to Nigeria. His criticism centred on the differences between the countries and the suitability of using such comparisons to explain Nigeria’s economic prospects.
Kwankwaso, however, said his own review had not revealed widespread inaccuracies in Obi’s figures. He acknowledged that mistakes can occur when presenting information but maintained that this did not justify portraying Obi as someone whose economic arguments were generally unreliable.
The former Kano State governor also argued that Obi’s familiarity with development indicators across Nigeria, Europe, Asia and other regions was an asset for someone seeking the presidency. He said their shared views on Nigeria’s challenges and development priorities had helped bring them together under the NDC platform.
The exchange highlights a wider question in the campaign debate: how candidates should use international examples to explain domestic economic problems. While Kwankwaso maintains that Obi’s figures are largely reliable, Shettima has challenged the relevance of some comparisons. Assessing the claims requires examining the underlying data, the indicators being compared and the differences in economic conditions between the countries involved.
