₦142bn for Bus Terminals, Evidence of Misplaced Priority – Obi

Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has criticised the federal government for budgeting ₦142 billion for bus terminals in the six geo-political zones of the country.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, said that the difference between the success and failure of development in any nation lies in how it prioritises its scarce resources.

In a post on his verified X handle, Obi stated that the Tinubu-led federal government was misallocating the country’s scarce resources.

“The recent announcement that a sum of ₦142 billion has been approved by the federal government for the construction of one bus terminal in each of our six geopolitical zones further affirms the lack of competence, lack of focus and poor leadership.

“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 ₦100 billion, yet the government has approved ₦142 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.”

Referring to a recent World Health Organisation report that over 20 million Nigerians are living with mental health issues, Obi argued that spending such a colossal amount on bus terminals was “not only a misplaced priority but a tragic irony of our country.”

“This is not governance,” he concluded.