The Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 Presidential election, Peter Obi, on Monday, gave his opinion about the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht and provisions for the office of the First Lady.
Both budgets were captured in the 2023 Supplementary Budget under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Obi spoke during a press conference today where he addressed the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, which dismissed his petitions and affirmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Describing the apex court’s judgment as a breach of the citizens’ trust in the judiciary, he described the inclusion of a presidential yacht and provisions for the First Lady’s office as an aberration.
The ruling party’s action was deemed highly insensitive by him, given the current state of Nigerians, who are experiencing extreme hunger and facing one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.
The former presidential candidate opined that all funds meant for the first lady’s office should be channelled and used to address issues of the girl child in the country.
Peter Obi said: “Supplementary budget is meant for very important national welfare needs of the people that are not captured originally in the budget or do not have adequate funding. The United Nations has warned in the past week that 26.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year. This is an issue of national importance that can go into a supplementary budget.
“However, the fact that we have a supplementary budget for cars for the first lady’s office shows that the government is uncaring and we’re in deep trouble. Bringing in the first lady’s office not in the constitution is more troubling; all funds meant for the first lady’s office should be channelled and used to address issues of the girl child in the country.”
Obi explained that the huge amount being spent on the vehicles for federal lawmakers was unnecessary. According to him, cheaper and better alternatives exist and should have been explored, just like he did while serving as governor of Anambra State.
Obi explained that the huge amount being spent on the vehicles for federal lawmakers was unnecessary. According to him, cheaper and better alternatives exist and should have been explored, just like he did while serving as governor of Anambra State.