‘Disclose Nigeria’s Bankruptcy Status’, Peter Obi Challenges Tinubu Over Claim Of Inheriting Bankrupt Nation From Buhari

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over claims of inheriting a bankrupt nation from the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

VerseNews earlier reported that Tinubu, on Monday night, lamented that Nigeria has severe deficits in port, power infrastructure and agro-allied facilities, saying that his administration would ensure that all the shortcomings are addressed.

President Tinubu said even though his government also inherited assets from his predecessors, he would not make any excuses.

Reacting to Tinubu’s claims, Peter Obi in a statement via X on Thursday faulted the All Progressives Congress (APC) government for failing to disclose the degree of deficit inherited, which would help the public know where the country is headed.

The former Governor of Anambra State recalled how the APC administration also blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 for inheriting a bankrupt nation and subsequently increasing the country’s debt profile.

Peter Obi added that the recent revelation calls for the need to drastically reduce the cost of governance.

The statement reads, “I just read yesterday, a widely publicized story from the present APC-led Federal Government saying that they inherited a bankrupt nation from their predecessor APC administration. But the story failed to disclose what they inherited, which had qualified us for bankruptcy status. One major characteristic of responsible governance is transparency and strict accountability.

“This demands that the government disclose exactly the degree of deficit they inherited. What is inherited should be disclosed to enable the public to know where we are and where we are headed. Recall that the previous APC Government made a similar claim in 2015 against the PDP administration that handed over to them without telling the nation what it actually inherited.

“Rather, they took our debt profile from N12.6 Trillion in 2015 to N87 trillion in 2023 when they left office without improving on any indices of development: Education, Health, Poverty eradication, and Security. Instead, the condition of the nation on every development index got worse, leading to the present sad state. Nigerians know things are bad, and they experience it daily. What they now want to hear regularly are measurable and verifiable steps to improve the situation.

“Also, the alarm raised by the government about the bad state of our finances raises questions about the rationale behind some expenditure items in the supplementary budget recently signed into law. The present revelation also goes to buttress the argument that I have made since electioneering season that the cost of governance is too high and must be drastically reduced.

“A bankrupt country should channel every available resource into funding critical development sectors like security, healthcare, education, and eradication of poverty by addressing youth unemployment, not spending in non-essential areas. So, what we expect are measurable and verifiable steps to improve the situation.”