N2.17 Trillion supplementary budget is lavish indulgence – Peter Obi

Former Anambra state governor and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the general election, Mr Peter Obi, has called out the current administration on some of the items featured in the 2023 supplementary budget, describing them as “lavish indulgence.”

Obi made this statement on Wednesday following the passage of the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget into law by President Bola Tinubu.

Taking to his X account, the former governor expressed his displeasure on items such as

• “Presidential Yacht, Presidential Jets, the furnishing of already lavishly furnished presidential quarters and offices, fleets of luxury SUVs” included in the budget, adding that they do not reflect the country’s urgent needs.

According to him, a supplementary budget should be designed for urgent national needs, and not to fund the luxurious lifestyle of the political elites.

• “A supplementary budget is a budget made for very important national welfare needs of the people which were not captured originally in the main budget or do not have adequate funding.
• “No item of urgent social welfare has yet featured in the supplementary budget being orchestrated by this government. Instead, the items being made to dominate public discourse on the budget include a mysterious Presidential Yacht, Presidential Jets,
• “The furnishing of already lavishly furnished presidential quarters and offices, fleets of luxury SUVs etc. This portrays a government that is uncaring and insensitive to the suffering of the majority, and indifferent to the mood of the nation.
• “The least that Nigerians expect from the government at this difficult moment is empathy and realism, not lavish indulgence,” Obi stated.

Budget ought to Address Food Crisis in the Country

Speaking further, the Labour Party presidential candidate said the appropriation of these funds should have been used to address the food crisis in the country.

Citing the United Nations and World Food Programme warning that about 6.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year, the ex-governor stated that the government’s attitude does not reflect the current food crisis in the nation.

• “Admittedly, some items in the current budget may not have taken into consideration the needs of a new administration, but it is expected that a supplementary budget this late in the financial year should reflect mostly urgent items of national welfare.
• “Sadly, the most pressing national needs and emergencies have not featured in the supplementary budget that was just announced by the government. For example, the United Nations and World Food Programme have recently alerted that up to 6.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year.
• “This number is largely from among citizens in Sokoto, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, and Zamfara States. A caring Government to plan for the mitigation of such pending catastrophe can request for supplementary budget provisions to cushion those under threat,” he added.

Earlier, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget with over N1 trillion capital expenditure and N1 trillion recurrent expenditure.

Some of the items on the budget include billions of naira in allocation to renovating the president and vice president state house, appropriation for SUVs for the First Lady as well as federal lawmakers.

The budget also contained an N5 billion appropriation for a presidential yacht, an item that was later withdrawn by the House of Representatives after a public outcry.

The funds have now been transferred to the student loan proposal, making it a total of N10 billion naira.

Accordingly, many Nigerians have reacted to some of the items on the budgetary lists, condemning it as wasteful and unnecessary at a time when the country is faced with multiple fiscal challenges and exorbitant public debt