Former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party leader, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over the reported $9 million spent on lobbying in the United States, describing the expenditure as wasteful, insensitive, and a reflection of Nigeria’s misplaced priorities.
Obi said the decision to commit millions of dollars to foreign lobbyists at a time of widespread hardship shows a troubling disconnect between leadership choices and the everyday realities faced by Nigerians. He argued that the country’s deepening development crisis is not due to a lack of resources but poor governance and wrong spending priorities.
According to him, the $9 million could have been channelled into critical sectors such as healthcare, education, nutrition, and job creation, where funding gaps continue to worsen living conditions for millions of citizens. He noted that the amount is comparable to capital allocations for major teaching hospitals across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
The former governor described the lobbying deal, reportedly aimed at managing Nigeria’s image and communicating its security efforts abroad, as unnecessary at a time when insecurity, poverty, inflation, and unemployment remain major domestic challenges.
Obi further observed that Nigeria has remained in the low Human Development Index category for over three decades, despite its vast natural and human resources. He contrasted this with countries that achieved growth by prioritising human capital development and fiscal discipline rather than image management.
He called on Nigerian leaders to abandon what he described as a culture of waste and embrace people-centred governance, stressing that public funds must be spent in ways that directly improve the welfare of citizens rather than on foreign lobbying contracts.
Abuja Network News
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