By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
Former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has slammed Peter Obi for criticising President Tinubu’s decision to construct bus terminals across the six geopolitical zones in the country with N124 billion.
Omokri on his X page described Obi’s criticism as “a series of lies and misinformation which have become his stock in trade.”
He said, “His latest attempt to de-market Nigeria is to attack plans by the Federal Government to build bus terminals in each geopolitical zone, amongst claims that the money voted for such is inflated. First of all, Nigerians may recall that after the removal of fuel subsidy, the Federal Government pledged to invest in transport infrastructure to cushion the effect of the removal on Nigerians.”
“The plan was to provide CNG buses and terminals for these buses to make public transport more efficient and less expensive for citizens. Having a bus terminal in each geopolitical zone helps achieve that. These terminals are being built not for ₦142 billion each, but at a total cost of ₦142 billion for the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. That is equivalent to $92 million. In contrast, and please fact-check me, Egypt, a country that Mr. Peter Obi likes to praise as an example to Nigeria, just spent 5 billion Egyptian Pounds, equivalent to $105 million, on just one Central Bus Station in its New Administrative Capital.”
Omokri claimed that building a single bus terminal in Egypt costs nothing less than $105 million, yet Obi accused the government of wasting resources over the decision to spend what he called “just ₦142 billion, or only $92 million, to build bus terminals all over Nigeria”
Omokri further said that the former Anambra governor lied about the budget for Teaching Hospitals and Psychiatric Centres being under ₦100 billion, which he claimed is smaller than what is budgeted for bus terminals.
He said, “Yes, the subvention for these hospitals may be under ₦100 billion, but these institutions do not survive on that. They are revenue-generating institutions whose generated revenue funds their operations. The ₦100 billion is just a subvention, not the money they rely on.
“Peter Obi knows this. But he believes the Nigerian people are not smart enough to know this. So he is gaslighting the public, just like the lie he told during his Channels TV interview, where he falsely stated that President Tinubu has borrowed more money than Presidents Yar’adua, Jonathan and Buhari combined. That claim was actually a lie. President Tinubu has actually reduced Nigeria’s debt from $113.7 billion, which he inherited from General Buhari, to $97 billion today. What Peter Obi did was to convert $97 billion to Naira, using today’s rates, to give the impression that our debt has actually increased when they have actually reduced.”
Omokri described Peter Obi as a liar who lies when he speaks his native language.
