Former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has called on Nigerians to unite across political, ethnic and religious divides to rescue the country from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Olawepo-Hashim, in a statement on Monday, accused the ruling party of wrecking Nigeria’s economy, deepening poverty, and dividing the nation along ethnic and religious lines.
“Nigerians must unite to defeat the evil that the APC has come to represent, regardless of party affiliations, ethnic differences, or religion,” he declared. “The mindless policies of increased poverty, high inflation, and economic decline are ravaging all Nigerians equally, without asking whether you are Christian, Muslim, or animist.”
Olawepo-Hashim lamented that the APC’s decade-long rule had shrunk the economy and ballooned the national debt to unprecedented levels.
“The APC’s ten years of consistently wrong policies have wrecked our national economy,” he said. “They contracted our GDP from $574 billion in 2014 to less than $259 billion today—a disaster unparalleled in our economic history.”
He further accused the government of fiscal recklessness, noting: “The APC ballooned our national debt from ₦12 trillion at the end of 2014 to about ₦198 trillion now—an increase of over 1,500%. That is economic vandalism.”
On insecurity, Hashim decried what he described as the “complete breakdown of law and order” under the APC administration.
“At the security front, the nation is bleeding profusely. From kidnapping to terrorism, no part of the country is safe. We cannot stop insecurity unless we send the APC out of power,” he warned, adding that the crisis had crippled agriculture, discouraged investment, and worsened economic hardship.
Olawepo-Hashim urged Nigerians to reject divisive politics, insisting that hunger, poverty, and unemployment affect all citizens equally.
“Hunger has no tribe. Poverty has no religion. The evil is one, and so must our response be,” he said.
He also appealed to opposition leaders to unite around common goals, especially electoral reform and transparent governance.
“For my fellow political leaders in the opposition, I call on everyone to unite. We don’t all have to be in one party, but our unity must be built around shared programmes,” he said.
Expressing optimism about the people’s readiness for change, Hashim asserted that the APC would lose in any credible election.
“It does not matter how many presidential candidates contest against the APC,” he said. “As long as the election is free and fair, APC will fail by the grace of God, because current polling shows the party performing below 20% in both North and South.”
He concluded with a rallying call for national renewal: “Nigeria can no longer survive on borrowed time or borrowed money. The APC has pushed us to the edge; now is the time to stand up and push back.”
