The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi has described the proposed construction of six bus terminals at a cost of N142b by the Federal Government as a misplacement of priority. He said this is even more so at a time when the health sector especially teaching hospitals were in dire need of attention.
In a post on his verified X handle, Obi said, ‘The difference between the success and failure of the development in any nation is how you prioritise your scarce resources. The recent announcement that a sum of N142 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. WHO recently reported that over 20 million Nigerians are living with mental health issues.
This is not only a misplaced priority but a tragic irony of our country. This is not governance’.
