The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has tackled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the claim of meeting Nigeria’s 2025 ahead of schedule when ‘Nigerians remain in hardship.’
On Tuesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the Federal Government has achieved its 2025 revenue target ahead of schedule, ruling out further borrowing.
The president said the development was driven by non-oil earnings, adding that his administration has made progress in stabilising the economy despite external pressures.
Reacting to the President’s comment, Obi, in a statement on Wednesday night, said if indeed the claim is true, it should reflect on the lives of Nigerians.
“The President has announced that our nation’s revenue target for the year has now been achieved by August, which could mean a stabilising economy.”
Congratulations Mr. President. But Mr. President, if indeed the economy stabilises as you declared, then Nigerians must feel it in their daily lives. Borrowings must stop now. Huge Contractors’ bills, which are still owed should be paid, and critical underfunded projects must now be funded.
“Our educational facilities and hospitals are still in terrible condition. True economic stability is not in figures announced at press conferences, but in classrooms where children learn, in well-equipped labs and access to learning tools, in hospitals, where citizens can receive quality care, equipped with adequate facilities.
“For the next four months, every value of our excess revenue should be deliberately channelled into the critical areas of development: health, education, and pulling people out of poverty. This must be done transparently, with verifiable and measurable outcomes. Anything less will mean that revenue growth has not translated into national growth. Nigerians deserve to see the impacts of this touted revenue growth.”
In another tweet on Thursday, Obi asked Tinubu’s governemnt to show compassion to the suffering of the masses, having met the revenue target for the year.
He wrote; “Having met our revenue target for the year ahead of schedule, we should show sensitivity and compassion to the suffering masses by deploying resources to critical areas that will help to create jobs to alleviate the people’s hardships.
“For instance, critical economic players and their associated institutions are undergoing a serious dearth of funds, and their effect is showing in areas they support, like SMEs. Some of them are even protesting as they cannot meet their banks’ and staff needs.
“Why are retired public servants, including service men and women who have risked their lives for the nation, still protesting over unpaid gratuities and pensions?
“It is (not) shameful that those who built this nation with their sweat, those who defended it with their lives, and those who have fulfilled their contractual obligations are reduced to begging for what is rightfully theirs, even after the government boasts of excess revenue.
“Achieving revenue targets means nothing if it does not impact the lives of the people, if those who serve and build the nation are left with unpaid entitlements in their difficult years, and those who have genuinely fulfilled their contractual obligations, most of whom are SMES with one form of debt or the other are still unpaid.
“Our nation must not continue to throw its citizens into debt and despair. It is time for our government to act responsibly and with integrity. A New Nigeria is POssible.”