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Peter Obi attacks Tinubu over his latest trip to France, asks him to stop spending public funds on private visit

Published

11 months ago

January 26, 2024

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi has attacked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his latest trip to France, saying he should stop spending public funds for private visit.

Obi made this statement in a series of posts shared on his X account on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Recall that President Tinubu departed Abuja for Paris, France, on a private visit on Wednesday, January 24, 2024.

The president’s special assistant on social media, Dada Olusegun, confirmed this on Wednesday, January 24, via a social media post on his X handle.

The president is expected to return to the country in the first week of February 2024.

The former Anambra governor reacting to what the presidency described as a ” private visit” to France, said that there is nothing private for a sitting President.

“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.

“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, however, acknowledged some efforts by Tinubu to cut costs like his recent 60% cost on travel but maintained that it is still insignificant because other problems are waiting to be tackled like the elevator issue in the nation’s airports.

He also used the opportunity to scream at the depilated state of Nigeria’s public assets, especially the elevator at the Namadi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja

He said he was heartbroken to observe that the elevator and escalator at the airport has not been functioning for about three months, forcing disabled passengers to be carried along with their wheelchairs through the staircase

Obi wondered why such public assets are overlooked by leaders, while the ordinary citizens go through such avoidable suffering.

“Just yesterday, I saw a heart-wrenching sight of a physically challenged traveler in a wheelchair being carried up the stairs by four men, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, Abuja because neither the elevator nor the escalator had been functional, for the past 3 months.

“The situation becomes more disturbing when you imagine that such is happening in our nation’s capital, where our dignitaries and foreign investors travel through constantly,” he said.