(Peter Obi. Photo by Sky News)
Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has urged the Federal Government to give a detailed account of how public revenues and borrowed funds have been deployed, amid what he described as deepening economic hardship across the country.
Obi, in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, questioned the management of Nigeria’s finances under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, despite acknowledging a significant rise in government revenue.
According to him, President Tinubu, while marking the third anniversary of his administration, listed among his achievements an increase in government revenue from N16.8 trillion in 2022 to N35 trillion in 2025.
Obi noted that the more than 100 per cent jump in revenue should ordinarily have reduced the need for borrowing, but expressed concern that the country’s debt profile had continued to expand rapidly.
“Shockingly, while Nigerians expected a reduction in borrowing with the exponential increase in revenue, the opposite is the case,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor claimed that Nigeria’s total debt had climbed to approximately N200 trillion, reflecting an increase of over N100 trillion within the past three years.
He further argued that, beyond higher revenue and rising debt, the country had also recorded earnings above budgeted targets due to favourable global and regional economic conditions.
Obi, however, maintained that key socio-economic indicators had worsened over the same period, citing rising multidimensional poverty, growing unemployment, and a decline in GDP per capita as evidence that the gains from increased revenues and borrowing had not improved living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
“Just more and more hardship for Nigerians,” he stated.
He said both Nigerians and members of the international community were raising questions about how the country’s financial resources had been utilised.
“The question Nigerians and even the international community are asking is, ‘Where did all the money go?'” he asked.
Obi called for greater transparency and accountability in the management of public finances, insisting that citizens deserved a comprehensive explanation of economic developments since 2023.
He also urged the government to put an end to what he described as imprudent, opaque, and unaccountable management of national resources.
The former presidential candidate expressed optimism that Nigeria could still attain sustainable growth and development through productive economic policies and prudent management of public resources.