Peter Obi Criticises FG Over ₦135bn Election Litigation Price range, Requires Schooling Funding
The 2023 Labour Celebration presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Authorities for allocating billions of naira to post-election adjudication whereas failing to adequately put money into Nigeria’s schooling sector.
Talking at a public lecture at Coal Metropolis College in Enugu State, Obi described the proposed ₦135.22 billion finances for electoral adjudication and post-election provisions as a misplaced precedence.
He argued that such funds may very well be redirected in the direction of supporting graduates and strengthening the schooling system, which he mentioned stays underfunded regardless of its significance to nationwide improvement.
Obi maintained that Nigeria’s poor funding in schooling is a key driver of widespread poverty, low human capital improvement, and the nation’s excessive variety of out-of-school kids.
He additional lamented that schooling funding in Nigeria has persistently fallen under the benchmark advisable by UNESCO, noting that the proposed 2026 federal schooling finances of ₦3.52 trillion represents solely about 6.1 per cent of the overall nationwide finances.
Obi warned towards putting extreme emphasis on bodily infrastructure on the expense of human capital improvement.
“Now we have a authorities that’s involved about constructing bodily infrastructure with out human infrastructure. It’s human infrastructure that drives improvement in nations like China and India,” he mentioned.
In his remarks, Chairman of the occasion and former Minister of Energy, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, described Obi as a reputable voice on schooling, citing his document as governor of Anambra State the place he prioritised instructional improvement.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the college, Prof. Adam Ituma, mentioned the lecture sequence was designed to foster significant dialogue and join the establishment with thought leaders shaping international discourse.
Gideon Arinze
Times Nigeria