N142b bus terminal, misplaced priority - Peter Obi

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By Iheanyi Chukwudi

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, on Friday berated the Federal Government over its proposed N142 billion for construction of bus terminals.

The former Anambra State Governor,

said the difference between the success and failure of development in any nation “is how you prioritise your scarce resources.”

Federal Government announced that it had earmarked the sum of the N142 billion for the bus terminals project, with one in each of the six geo-political zones.

In a statement he issued on Friday, Obi stressed that the government’s plan further affirmed the lack of competence, lack of focus and poor leadership.

He said, “In the 2024 budget, which is the operational budget today, the entire budget of all the teaching hospitals across all the federal universities in the country, as well as the federal psychiatric centres, is under N100 billion, yet the government has approved N142 billion for bus terminals.

This is disturbing, considering that Health is one of the most critical areas of development, which is deteriorating and remains grossly underfunded. WHO recently reported that over 20 million Nigerians are living with mental health issues."

Obi therefore, stated that, “This is not only a misplaced priority but a tragic irony of our country. This is not governance."