Former Anambra state governor and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the general election, Mr Peter Obi, has called out the current administration on some of the items featured in the 2023 supplementary budget, describing them as “lavish indulgence.”
Obi made this statement on Wednesday following the passage of the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget into law by President Bola Tinubu.
Taking to his X account, the former governor expressed his displeasure on items such as
According to him, a supplementary budget should be designed for urgent national needs, and not to fund the luxurious lifestyle of the political elites.
Speaking further, the Labour Party presidential candidate said the appropriation of these funds should have been used to address the food crisis in the country.
Citing the United Nations and World Food Programme warning that about 6.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year, the ex-governor stated that the government’s attitude does not reflect the current food crisis in the nation.
Earlier, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget with over N1 trillion capital expenditure and N1 trillion recurrent expenditure.
Some of the items on the budget include billions of naira in allocation to renovating the president and vice president state house, appropriation for SUVs for the First Lady as well as federal lawmakers.
The budget also contained an N5 billion appropriation for a presidential yacht, an item that was later withdrawn by the House of Representatives after a public outcry.
The funds have now been transferred to the student loan proposal, making it a total of N10 billion naira.
Accordingly, many Nigerians have reacted to some of the items on the budgetary lists, condemning it as wasteful and unnecessary at a time when the country is faced with multiple fiscal challenges and exorbitant public debt.
