By Abiola Olawale
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Tuesday criticised calls for the procurement of a new aircraft for Vice President Kashim Shettima, by Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan.
Obi, in a statement posted on his social media platforms, wondered why calls for the procurement of a new aircraft are emerging despite the prevailing economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
It would be recalled that Rt. Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan, speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, had said that the Vice President needs a new aircraft urgently.
Lawan made the call after Shettima aborted his trip to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa.The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who announced the development said Shettima’s trip was cancelled due to damage to the VP’s aircraft.
Onanuga said a “foreign object” damaged the cockpit’s windshield. Reacting to the Lawan’s comment, Obi, a two-term governor of Anambra State said such calls are insensitive. Obi said: “I just read a disturbing comment in the media space attributed to one of the supposed political leaders in the country that the life of the Vice President is in danger because of the faults recorded in his official aircraft.
“The leader went further to urge the Federal Government to purchase a new aircraft for the Vice President.
“In making such a remark now, the speaker is insensitive and unconcerned about the prevailing economic situation in the country.
“That Nigerians are facing untold hardship at this moment is no secret.
“Such a provoking call is coming from a person who probably is oblivious to the fact that Nigeria, at present, has continued to manifest every trait of a failed state.
“We are today among one of the eleven worst-governed African nations in the last 10 years. We are also among the 20 most hungry nations in the world, with our people facing worsening mass poverty, extreme hunger and starvation.
“Our nation remains the poverty capital of the world, with our per capita income crashing further from $1700 in 2023 to $1109 this year.
“Are these not the issues that should be prioritized by committed leaders?
“Our national electricity grid has so far collapsed 8 times this year alone and 105 times in the last ten years, plunging our small businesses into great losses and households into darkness.
“In the past 15 months, several businesses have closed down or become distressed due to the harsh economic environment in the country.
“The Vice President travels mostly in the country’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia.
“And since we have recently undeservedly bought one, it should be used on essential, inevitable trips of the President and Vice President.
“I appeal to the President, Vice President, and our public office holders that our present precarious situation calls only for minimal and highly contributory inevitable travels.
“It is time to sit down and find solutions to our litany of challenges for the wellbeing of the people and the development of our country.
“Nigeria will rise again if the leadership can commit to selfless service. Are these not the issues that should preoccupy us as leaders, rather than being consumed by our selfish desires for needless luxury at the expense of the people we are called to serve?
“What does Nigeria’s Vice President need a new jet for, and what value are all Presidential and Vice Presidential trips adding to our present situation?”
