The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25th election, Peter Obi, has reacted to the bankruptcy alarm raised by the Federal Government. He challenged the FG to tell the Nation how much it inherited from the immediate past government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a series of tweets on his X handle on Thursday, Obi noted that the alarm contradicts the spending behaviour of the Government as contained in its supplementary budget just signed into law by the President, as well as the bloated size of the Government.
“I just read yesterday, a widely publicized story from the present APC-led Federal Government saying that they inherited a bankrupt nation from the former APC administration.
But then the story failed to disclose what they actually inherited which qualified us for bankruptcy status”
Obi noted that one major characteristic expected of the new Nigeria we preach is a transparent system of disclosure. “For example” , he said, “what was inherited should be disclosed to enable the public know where we are and where we are headed.”
The LP standard bearer recalled that the previous APC Government made a similar claim in 2015 against the PDP administration that handed over to it without telling the Nation what it actually inherited.
“Rather, according to official records, they took our debt profile from N12.6 Trillion in 2015 to N87 trillion in 2023 when it left office without improving on any indices of development – Education, Health, Poverty eradication, and Security.
“Instead, every aspect of the development index got worse”
According to Obi, Nigerians already know that things are very bad, so what to expect in such circumstances is a measurable and verifiable step to improve the situation.
Obi further noted that the alarm raised by the government, questions the rationale behind some expenditure profiles of the government so far, especially for some items contained in the supplementary budget just signed into law by the President.
“It also goes to buttress the argument I have held since the electioneering time that the cost of governance must be drastically reduced.
“A bankrupt country should channel every available resource into funding critical development sectors like security, healthcare, education, and, eradication of poverty by addressing youth unemployment not spending on non-focal areas”
