Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi , has raised concern over the lingering economic crisis in Nigeria, recalling that Nigeria had the biggest economy in Africa as of 2014. Naija News recalls that Nigeria, as of 2014, was being led by former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan , on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). A year later, in a surprising turn of events, Jonathan, an incumbent president, lost a re-election bid to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.
Recall that Obi was a former member of the PDP before defecting to the Labour Party in 2023 to pursue his presidential ambition. Taking to his official account on X on Monday, Peter Obi, a candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, said the country’s economy soon began to drop in 2015. In his message, Obi drew attention to the stark difference between Nigeria’s economic achievements during its early post-democracy years and its current economic condition.
According to him, upon returning to democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria saw an average GDP growth rate of approximately 6.72% over 16 years, 1999-2014. However, he highlighted a decline in this momentum, with GDP growth dropping to 2.
79% in 2015, leading to an economic downturn in 2016. Obi said: “In 2014, just before the inception of a new administration a year later, Nigeria had the biggest economy in Africa with a Gross Domestic Product of $568.5 billion and a GDP Per Capita of about $3,.