Supplementary Budget: Consideration Of Yacht, First Lady’s Office, An Aberration — Obi Fires Tinubu

The Presidential Standard Bearer of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has described the inclusion of a presidential yacht and provisions for the office of the First Lady, in the 2023 Supplementary Budget as an aberration.

He noted that the action was an exhibition of the high level of insensitivity by the ruling party at a time when Nigerians are suffering from unprecedented hunger and probably the highest infant mortality rates globally.

His words: “Supplementary budget is meant for very important national welfare needs of the people that are not captured originally in the budget or do not have adequate funding. The United Nations has warned in the past week that 26.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year. This is an issue of national importance that can go into a supplementary budget.

“However, the fact that we have a supplementary budget for cars for the first lady’s office shows that the government is uncaring and we’re in deep trouble. Bringing in the first lady’s office not in the constitution is more troubling; all funds meant for the first lady’s office should be channelled and used to address issues of the girl child in the country.”

Obi explained that the huge amount being spent on the vehicles for federal lawmakers was unnecessary.

According to him, cheaper and better alternatives exist and should have been explored, just like he did while serving as governor of Anambra State.

He noted that he used Peugeot vehicles as official cars for all government officials and rejected the bulletproof cars earlier ordered for his official use.

On the call by Vice President Atiku Abubakar for a six-year single-term rotational presidency as a way out of the crisis often associated with electoral contests, Obi said,he would support a five-year single-term rotation among the zones to run for 30 years.

– Adapted from the Vanguard News