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Former presidential candidate and labor leader, Peter Obi, have greatly criticized the administration of the Tinubu Bola President for approved ₦ 712.3 billion for renovating the Murtala Muhammated International Airport in Lagos, describing expenses as “Mistakes of National Priority Release.”
Obi, who is widely expected to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 General Election, issued a statement through the Handle of X verified on Wednesday, expressed disappointment that such a large allocation was approved at millions of Nigerians facing starvation and extreme economic difficulties.
“It is very disturbing that when millions of Nigerians faced a destroying hunger burden, the federal government had chosen to approve ₦ 712.3 billion who was surprising to feed their people, not to lift them out of difficulties, and did not invest in their welfare, but to renovate the airport,” which was declared by Obi. “This raises a fundamental and urgent question: where is our national priority?”
Quoting the new report -the new UN, former Governor of the State Anambra warned that around 34 million Nigerians were at risk of developing food insecurity in August alone. He referred to national media coverage about the UN warnings, highlighting that the hunger crisis is not only statistics but a reflection of the daily suffering experienced by Nigerians.
“This is talking about real people, our parents, children, neighbors, and friends, who will sleep hungry and wake up without the hope of eating,” Obi said.
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The increase in airports 712.3 billion has been approved by the Federal Executive Council as part of a broader plan to modernize the country’s aviation infrastructure and improve passenger experience. However, Obi questioned the time, scale, and project reasons, noting that significant flight investment had been carried out a decade ago.
In 2013, Nigeria received a loan of $ 500 million from China EXIM Bank, plus partner funds, to increase five international airports, Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu. If there is no decades of large investments in the past, what reverses the bigger amount today, especially one -only at the airport, especially, especially in the past, what is not there at a larger time, which does not have a single time at a larger time. He asked.
Obi further warned what he described as a “grandiose infrastructure project” which failed to meet the most urgent human development needs in Nigeria, especially hunger, health care, and education. He urged the government to straighten out its development agenda to prioritize the welfare of citizens.
“As a nation, our main obligation is to protect and provide for our people, to ensure they are fed, healthy, and safe. Development is about the choice. This is about the understanding that national progress begins with the basis of: human development, not with grandiose infrastructure projects,” he said.
“The government that built a grandiose infrastructure while the people were starving not to build the country, it betrayed one.”
Approval of the Federal Executive Council for ₦ 712.3 billion renovation plans came in the midst of the deepening of the Nigerian food crisis, increased inflation, and currency devaluation. The decision has triggered debate between economists, development experts, and civil society groups, many of them have urged the government to prioritize policies that directly reduce poverty and increase food access to vulnerable populations.
