– Says, Nigeria, Now Crime Scene
The Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 election Peter Obi, has condemned in very strong terms the alleged insertion of # billion budget in the 2025 election.
Obi, in a post on his social media platform. He berated those responsible for budget inflation for putting the personal interest beyond that of the masters and their apprentices.
According to him, “The ₦7 trillion uncovered as fraudulently inserted into the 2025 budget is even greater than the combined allocations to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and the Ministry of Agriculture – ministries that are fundamental to national development.
To be precise:
•The Ministry of Education was allocated ₦3.52 trillion,
•The Ministry of Health received ₦2.48 trillion,
•The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation was allocated ₦260 billion, and
•The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security received ₦636.08 billion.
Combined, these four ministries were allocated ₦6.896 trillion—an already inflated amount—yet still less than the ₦7 trillion dubiously inserted into the budget.
That ₦7 trillion figure is even more than the ₦6.1 trillion allocated to national security—at a time when Nigeria is among the most terrorised nations in the world.
This brazen impunity by our leaders is precisely why the country cannot invest adequately in education—hence the existence of nearly 20 million out-of-school children. It is the same corruption that has crippled primary healthcare, resulting in alarming levels of malnourished children. We face widespread hunger, yet our leaders neglect agricultural investment due to persistent mismanagement and lack of accountability. The same disregard affects our capacity to fund national security effectively, or to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which are vital to national growth.
These glaring acts of corruption reinforce my position: Nigeria has been reduced to a crime scene.
We must confront this corruption, misappropriation, and fiscal recklessness with unwavering resolve. Our national resources must be transparently managed and strategically invested in key sectors—health, education, and poverty alleviation—to secure a better future for our people. We must turn this nation around”.
