Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the last
general election, Peter Obi, has described reports that N15 billion was
budgeted for the construction of a new residence for the Vice President as
shocking and disheartening, considering the many challenges facing the nation.
According to him, the N2.5 billion and N3 billion included
in the Supplementary Budget for renovating the Vice President’s residence in
Abuja and Lagos means that he already has a residence.
Obi frowned against budgeting a total of N20.5 billion, when
added together, for the accommodation of the Vice President at a time when more
people are falling into poverty and not knowing where their next meal will come
from.
In a statement via his X handle on Monday, the former
Anambra State governor opined that the country needs leaders who show
compassion and wre willing to sacrifice for common progress and development.
He wrote, “Even as I am still studying the 2024 fiscal
budget as presented to the National Assembly last week, I cannot wait as I am
compelled to ask: what is exactly wrong with us as a country?
“I ask this question because it is hard for me to understand
some of the recent happenings in our nation in these critical times. The recent
news about a budget provision of N15 billion for the construction of a new
residence for the Vice President is both shocking and disheartening,
considering the many important challenges facing our nation. Just recently, in
the Supplementary Budget, the sum of N2.5 billion was included for the renovation
of the Vice President’s residence in Abuja, which means that he already has a
residence.
“Again, during the budget presentation, I heard the sum of
N3 billion was allocated for the renovation of the Vice President’s residence
in Lagos. If we total all these sums, we would have budgeted the sum of N20.5
billion for the housing of the Vice President at this critical time when we are
not just the world’s poverty capital but more people are falling into poverty,
with so many Nigerians not knowing where their next meal will come from. Our
health facilities have collapsed, and unemployment is skyrocketing.
“I am convinced that 99.9% of Nigerians can only dream of
living in the current residence of the Vice President. Several people employed
in the universities are not being paid. Just to give an example, the salary of
a professor in a Nigerian university is about N400,000, which without removing
tax is about N5 million a year. What we have budgeted for the housing of the
Vice President, who is already luxuriously housed, is, therefore, the annual
salary of about 3000 professors! This is the finance needed to develop the
much-needed human capital.
“The budget of N5 billion for student loans, which is yet to
be disbursed, is only a tiny percentage of the cost of the Vice President’s new
home. We are projecting to use four times the amount for educating ALL Nigerian
indigent students to house the Vice President, and we are being told there is
nothing wrong with us. I am sure the major teaching hospitals in Nsukka, Lagos,
Ibadan, and Zaria did not receive this much capital vote in the budget this
year. We have had leaders that were exemplary in the past.
“Most Nigerians may not know that the popular 1004 flats in
Lagos were land allocated for the building of a Presidential Mansion for the
then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.
“He sternly turned down the offer and instructed that the
land should be used to build blocks of flats for civil servants. That is the
kind of sacrificial leadership worth emulating. Our leaders must, therefore,
stop the recklessness and insensitivity to the plight of the masses.
“We need leaders who show compassion and are willing to
sacrifice for common progress and development. Such compassionate and frugal
leaders are critical in our journey to the New Nigeria.”
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