Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, says the trips embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima lack fiscal responsibility and common sense.
Speaking on his X on Friday, Obi said since the president is reportedly in Paris, France, which is just about 833 nautical miles from Stockholm, Sweden, he could simply have gone to Sweden himself to save costs.
President Tinubu, who has been on vacation in the United Kingdom, left the country for France last weekend. Vice President Shettima left for Sweden on Wednesday for bilateral talks. At the moment, questions have been raised about the ;eadership vacancy in the nation. However, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said there is no vacuum no vacuum in Nigeria’s leadership.
However, Obi said the president would have saved time and the very scarce national resources needed critically at this time by attending the event from France.
The former Anambra State governor noted that delegating the vice president, who needed to travel 3055 nautical miles and over nine hours to Stockholm, Sweden, to represent the president at the event is a waste of resources. “It would take about 4 times the time and distance it takes to travel from Paris to Stockholm to travel from Abuja to Stockholm.”
He said this does not “represent the kind of fiscal responsibility and common sense that is expected of leaders whose people are facing severe hunger and poverty.”
“While it is arguable that with the President and Vice President absent from the Villa , there is no vacancy in the Presidency, in a situation where both the President and Vice President are out of the country, as reported in the media yesterday, it’s concerning for a country with such myriads of domestic problems.”
“The President had told us he would only be gone for 14 days. The 14 days have passed now, and we are waiting to see him in the country.
“One would have expected him to return earlier than expected, considering the volume of work that needs to be done in a troubled nation like ours.”
He said the untold hardship unleashed on Nigerians as a result of some of the president’s administration’s policies is unimaginable, noting that the nation needs his urgent attention to pilot the nation out of this present situation.
“This is the time to show true and committed leadership to the people by making decisions that prioritize the well-being of the people and effective management of the nation’s scarce resources in alleviating the sufferings of the people.”
