By Taiwo Oguniyi, Kwara | Oct. 22, 2025
Former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, has called on Nigerians to rise above ethnic and political divisions to rescue the country from what he described as the “ruinous grip” of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement issued on Monday, Hashim accused the ruling party of mismanaging the economy, plunging the nation into unprecedented debt, and worsening poverty and insecurity. He said the hardship being experienced by Nigerians cuts across religion and ethnicity.
“Nigerians must unite to defeat the evil that the APC has come to represent. The policies that have increased poverty, inflation, and economic hardship are affecting every Nigerian, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” he said.
Hashim described the APC’s decade-long leadership as an “economic disaster,” stating that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had declined from $574 billion in 2014 to less than $259 billion, while the nation’s debt had risen from ₦12 trillion to about ₦198 trillion. He called the development “economic vandalism.”
The former presidential candidate also cautioned against what he termed the ruling party’s attempts to divide the country along ethnic and religious lines, stressing that “hunger has no tribe and poverty has no religion.”
On insecurity, Hashim lamented that the nation was “bleeding profusely,” citing persistent cases of terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry across the country. He maintained that Nigeria could not overcome its security challenges under the APC-led government.
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He urged opposition leaders to unite around shared objectives such as credible elections and governance reforms, regardless of political affiliations. According to him, unity among opposition forces was essential to restoring hope and stability to the nation.
“This is a moral call to action,” Hashim concluded. “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.”
