Peter Obi has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritize governance by using local hospitals, addressing corruption, reducing foreign trips, and experiencing poor road conditions firsthand. He criticized borrowing for consumption, highlighted the poverty crisis, and stressed the need for improved security and national unity to tackle Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
Labour Party's 2023 presidential candidate and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, has urged President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate leadership by addressing key national challenges. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Obi emphasized the need for cost-effective governance and criticized the administration's reliance on borrowing for consumption rather than development projects.
Obi challenged Tinubu to use local hospitals, visit public schools, and occasionally travel by road to experience the poor state of infrastructure firsthand. Highlighting his example, Obi recalled taking former President Olusegun Obasanjo on a road trip from Awka to Onitsha, which resulted in the awarding of a road construction contract.
Obi expressed concern over the persistently high levels of corruption, frequent foreign trips by government officials, and mismanagement of public funds in 2024. He lamented the impact of these issues on the nation's economy, noting that the rising public debt has not translated into meaningful development.
Addressing the poverty crisis, Obi condemned stampedes for palliatives and called the new minimum wage insufficient to alleviate widespread hunger. He also criticized the dire security situation, citing the ongoing loss of lives to banditry, terrorism, and kidnappings.
Urging Tinubu to act as a national leader rather than a regional governor, Obi advised the president to spend festive seasons in various parts of the country to better understand citizens' struggles. He called for unity and purposeful governance to address Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
