Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly criticised the Federal Government over what he described as reckless and misplaced spending, citing the reported use of $9 million of public funds to hire foreign lobbyists in Washington while critical sectors at home continue to collapse.
In a statement on Thursday, Obi said the expenditure reflects a broader culture of waste, corruption, propaganda and poor prioritisation that has kept Nigeria trapped in underdevelopment for decades.
According to him, Nigeria’s persistent failure is evident in its Human Development Index (HDI) record. He noted that the country has remained in the low HDI category for 35 years, from 1990 to 2025, while nations such as China and Indonesia—once comparable to Nigeria and even poorer in per capita income—have progressed from low to medium and now high development categories.
Obi argued that these successes were not accidental but the result of deliberate leadership choices, discipline and long-term investment in people-focused development.
Using healthcare as an example, Obi said the $9 million (about ₦14 billion) spent on lobbyists could have transformed Nigeria’s failing health system. He pointed out that Nigeria currently has the lowest life expectancy globally and ranks among the top two countries in maternal mortality, making childbirth extremely dangerous for Nigerian women.
He compared the lobbyist spending with the 2024 capital budget allocations to six federal teaching hospitals—one from each geopolitical zone—which together total about ₦13.9 billion. These include allocations to the University College Hospital, Ibadan; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City; University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin; and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri.
Obi stressed that the same amount spent on foreign image management could have fully funded capital projects in at least one major teaching hospital in each zone, providing life-saving equipment, improving care and increasing life expectancy.
“The funds are available,” he said, “what is lacking are prioritisation, discipline and effective leadership.”
Describing the situation as unacceptable, Obi said Nigerians are dying in under-equipped hospitals while the government spends millions to “pretend that everything is fine.” He called for an end to what he termed the illusion of progress, insisting that every naira of public money must work for the Nigerian people.
“A New Nigeria is possible,” Obi concluded.
