The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has found himself speaking from both sides of his mouth.
He condemned in strongest terms the purchase of N60 billion worth of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for about 400 members of the National Assembly while but defended the Labour Party lawmakers for accepting the same SUVs.
Obi, while answering questions on the allocation of the SUVs to the members of the National Assembly and his position on members of his party accepting the vehicle during his World Press Conference last week, defended the Labour Party lawmakers, saying they accepted the vehicles because it is for official use.
— Jubril A. Gawat (@Mr_JAGs) November 6, 2023
However, in a series of posts he made on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, the former Anambra State Governor condemned the purchase of the SUVs and lambasted President Bola Tinubu for allocating more funds for the purchase of the vehicles for the lawmakers than the total amount allocated to the primary healthcare in the 2023 budget.
The recent expenditure of N60 billion for the purchase of SUV vehicles for about 400 legislators is a continuation of the troubling trend in our nation today. We have continued to abandon the critical areas of development measurement while expending scarce resources on needless — Peter Obi (@PeterObi) November 9, 2023
Speaking at the press conference, Obi said, “On the issue of the Labour Party members in the House, I have actually discussed this issue with them. Surprisingly I can tell you, I heard that these vehicles are official cars and therefore they have to use it as it is meant for official vehicles.
“So, it is not as if it is their vehicle; It is meant for official cars, because we campaigned for it, and I said, if it is your car, return it but they said it is an official car and that everybody is meant to do it.
“You are meant to use it while you are in the Senate. But you know how things work here, it is not going to be like that.”
But on Thursday, Obi said that it was a waste of public resources to spend N160 million on a luxurious SUV for each lawmaker while primary healthcare in the country had collapsed, leading Nigeria to surpass India in infant mortality.
He said that one-third of the amount allocated for the SUVs, with proper negotiation, would have given them to get locally manufactured SUV vehicles from Innoson Motors, PAN or any local auto assembly plant, to help boost Nigeria’s economy and create and retain jobs.
Obi further stated that while he was the governor, the Anambra State Government ordered two bulletproof SUV vehicles for him but he cancelled the order and used the money to negotiate a concessionary pricing with Peugeot Automobiles to supply his government with 60 406 vehicles which were enough for all his cabinet members including his and his deputy.
He said, “The recent expenditure of N60 billion for the purchase of SUV vehicles for about 400 legislators is a continuation of the troubling trend in our nation today.
“We have continued to abandon the critical areas of development measurement while expending scarce resources on needless luxury and creating comforts for those elected to serve the people.
“Our primary healthcare, which is the foundation of health, a critical development index measure, has collapsed, leading to our surpassing India, a country 7 times our population, in infant mortality, a very saddening situation.
“To allocate such a huge amount, which is more than what we allocated to our primary health care, is nothing but troubling.
“One third of that amount, with proper negotiation, would have given them locally manufactured SUV vehicles from Innoson Motors, PAN or any local auto assembly plant, to help boost our economy and create and retain jobs.
“Nobody would contemplate this kind of expenditure under my administration. I urge all involved to depart from this path of wastage of public resources.
“A more prudent and transparent Nigeria is possible.”
