The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has responded to President Bola Tinubu’s allegation that his administration inherited liabilities from his immediate predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Metrowatchonline.com remembers Tinubu saying last week in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when meeting with the Vice-President (Country Programs) of the Islamic Development Bank, Mansur Muhtar, that his administration “inherited serious liabilities” when it assumed power on May 29.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Peter Obi questioned Tinubu’s failure to provide specifics on the liabilities inherited from the previous administration.
According to the former Anambra governor, whatever the administration inherited should be made known to the general public, saying a responsible government should be transparent and accountable.
The statement reads, “I just read yesterday a widely publicized story from the present APC-led Federal Government saying that they inherited a bankrupt nation from their predecessor APC administration. However, the report failed to disclose what they inherited, which qualified us for bankruptcy status.
“One major characteristic of responsible governance is transparency and strict accountability.
“This demands that the government disclose exactly the degree of deficit they inherited. What is inherited should be disclosed to let the public know where we are and where we are headed”.
Obi recalled that the immediate past government of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, made a similar claim in 2015 when it took over power from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He lamented that despite the claims, the Buhari administration failed to improve on what it inherited, stressing that it left the country with a heavier debt burden.
“Instead, they took our debt profile from N12.6 Trillion in 2015 to N87 trillion in 2023 when they left office without improving on any indices of development: Education, Health, Poverty eradication, and Security.
“The nation’s condition on every development index got worse, leading to the present sad state. Nigerians know things are bad, and they experience it daily.
“What they now want to hear regularly are measurable and verifiable steps to improve the situation”, the statement added.
