– Faults N15bn Allocation For VP’s Residence

BY GODWIN OBI

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has faulted a N15bn allocation for the construction of a new residence for the nation’s Vice President (VP), even as he insisted that Nigerians need sacrificial leaders

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the ex-governor of Anambra State said Nigerians need leaders willing to make sacrifice for the nation’s development.

“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,” he wrote.

Last Wednesday, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said N15bn would be spent for the construction of a new residence for the vice president. The minister, who appeared before a House of Representatives Committee to defend the FCT N61.5bn 2023 supplementary budget.

Obi, in his post on Monday, wondered what was wrong with the country.

“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,” the post read in part.

“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.”

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Obi said “99.9% of Nigerians can only dream of living” in the current residence of Vice President Kashim Shettima.

“Most Nigerians may not know that the popular 1004 flats in Lagos, was a 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.”

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