The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has criticised the President Bola Tinubu-led government for indulging in extravagant spending.
Obi lamented that the country is in a crisis with 38 million people on the verge of extreme hunger, adding that wasteful spending has worsened the situation in the country.
He listed some of the wasteful spending of government as the purchase of a new presidential jet at $100m, ₦21bn for the renovation of the vice president’s lodge, and ₦15bn for the construction of the National Assembly clinic.
“You cannot ask people to fast while you are feasting”, Obi added.
Obi, who spoke during an interview with News Central TV, said the Federal Government must use its lean resources to address issues in key development areas such as health, education, poverty alleviation, and security.
“From all records, Nigeria has 38 million people on the verge of extreme hunger; we are the poverty capital of the world. The two most critical areas that are giving us the crisis are human insecurity and food insecurity. To deal with this, we need to invest in agriculture to solve hunger, unemployment, and inflation,” Obi said.
He hinted at the possibility of a merger with other opposition parties to salvage Nigerians from hunger and widespread insecurity ahead of the 2027 presidential election.