Former Anambra state governor and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the general election, Mr Peter Obi, has strongly criticized the current administration’s 2023 supplementary budget, labelling it as a display of “lavish indulgence.” His comments come in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the N2.17 trillion budget.
Voicing his concerns on social media, Obi highlighted various extravagant expenditures within the budget, denouncing the allocation of funds for the renovation of the president and vice president’s state houses, as well as the provision for luxurious SUVs for the First Lady and federal lawmakers.
“Presidential Yacht, Presidential Jets, the furnishing of already lavishly furnished presidential quarters and offices, fleets of luxury SUVs” included in the budget, adding that they do not reflect the country’s urgent needs.
“A supplementary budget is a budget made for very important national welfare needs of the people which were not captured originally in the main budget or do not have adequate funding.
“No item of urgent social welfare has yet featured in the supplementary budget being orchestrated by this government. Instead, the items being made to dominate public discourse on the budget include a mysterious Presidential Yacht, Presidential Jets,
“The furnishing of already lavishly furnished presidential quarters and offices, fleets of luxury SUVs etc. This portrays a government that is uncaring and insensitive to the suffering of the majority, and indifferent to the mood of the nation.
“The least that Nigerians expect from the government at this difficult moment is empathy and realism, not lavish indulgence,” Obi stated.
Arguing that a supplementary budget should primarily address pressing national issues, Obi lamented the lack of attention given to the escalating food crisis in the country. He referenced warnings from the United Nations and the World Food Programme, predicting that approximately 6.5 million Nigerians would face hunger in the upcoming year.
“Admittedly, some items in the current budget may not have taken into consideration the needs of a new administration, but it is expected that a supplementary budget this late in the financial year should reflect mostly urgent items of national welfare.
“Sadly, the most pressing national needs and emergencies have not featured in the supplementary budget that was just announced by the government. For example, the United Nations and World Food Programme have recently alerted that up to 6.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year.
Dust Raised as Tinubu Signs N2.17 Trillion Supplementary Budget into Law
“This number is largely from among citizens in Sokoto, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, and Zamfara States. A caring Government to plan for the mitigation of such pending catastrophe can request for supplementary budget provisions to cushion those under threat,” he added.
Notably, the supplementary budget initially included a controversial N5 billion appropriation for a presidential yacht, a provision that elicited public outcry and was subsequently reallocated to a student loan proposal, making the total sum N10 billion naira.
The signing of the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget into law by the President, which occurred on Wednesday afternoon in his office at the State House, Abuja, and was accompanied by a gathering of top government officials, has prompted ongoing reactions.
