Obi to Tinubu: Don’t spend public funds on private trips

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to use his money for private journeys as part of the cost-cutting measures desperately needed by the nation. 

Obi said this on Thursday in a series of posts on his X handle. 

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on Wednesday said that President Tinubu departed Abuja for Paris, France, on a private visit and is expected to return to the country in the first week of February, 2024. 

“I have been wondering what is private for a sitting president who is not on vacation to embark on a publicly funded ‘private’ visit. May I humbly remind the president that he is now a public national asset. 

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“Therefore, all his movements now should be public knowledge and matters of public interest. Even when he needs a private visit like a holiday, family gathering, etc, he should state so, which is graciously allowed, but private visits, like the one he has embarked on now, should be done at his expense and not at public cost,” Obi said. 

The former Anambra State governor said that such measures by President Tinubu are part of the cost-cutting measures desperately needed by the nation now, as the nation now requires savings of sorts to deal with every little issue that requires attention, like the maintenance of small public assets.

He said, “Otherwise, how do we explain as a country that for the past three months both the escalator and elevator at the domestic wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, have remained dysfunctional? 

“I often wonder how we the leaders feel traveling in sophisticated manners while the majority of our infrastructure being used by the majority, including our foreign investors, is left dilapidated. The situation we find ourselves in calls for such drastic cuts in the cost of governance, and attendant savings, to be appropriately used for every minor public good. That is the spirit of the New Nigeria we are clamoring for.” 

Obi, however, acknowledged some efforts by President Tinubu to cut costs like his recent 60% cost on travel but that is still insignificant given the quantum of problems waiting to be tackled like the elevator issue in the nation’s airports.