The Vice Presidential candidate of the People's Democratic
Party in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi has stated that the South-East
has not been treated fairly unlike other regions in the country.
The Former Governor of Anambra State who sat for an
interview on Arise News Morning show noted that there are capable hands who can
navigate the country through its current challenges, but he added that the
flawed electoral process won't let that happen.
“It is only fair that you treat every part of the nation
fairly and equally. Are Igbos being treated fairly? The answer is no…For me, I
believe we should restructure this country in such a way that every part of the
country would be competitive and we would get the best out of our
resources" he said.
Commenting on the 2020 budget presented by the Buhari-led
executive to the National Assembly, Peter Obi described it as "empty"
and further stated that it won't enhance production and growth of the micro,
small and medium scale industries.
“We have not looked at the quantum of the budget compared to
the size of the country. I have made a study of the budget of about 24
countries and I have followed it religiously and I can give you an example of
what is happening. Let us use examples of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Indonesia,
China and South Africa) nations and the MINT economies (Mexico, Indonesia,
Nigeria, and Turkey.) Of all these countries, there is none whose budget is
less than 15 percent of its GDP except Nigeria. Brazil has a population of 210
million people, with a GDP of three billion, their budget is 803 trillion
dollars. Nigeria has a population of 200 million people and a GDP of $400
billion and the budget for 2018 was $22 billion. If you look at all these
countries and share their budget with their population, you will see that
Nigeria is the worst yet none of them have more than five percent of their
people living under poverty. In our own case, 50 percent of our people are
living under poverty and our budget is so low.
“This 2020 budget that we are clapping about is not up to
the Indonesia’s budget for education. So, we have a crisis and we need to look
at what these countries are doing right that we are not doing. The budget that
you think is big is empty in itself and to worsen it, you cannot fund it.
Raising revenue is very simple. The only way to increase revenue is to create
more employment. The more people are employed, the more revenue you get. If you
pull 40 million people out of poverty, you can increase revenue through the tax
they pay. But you are not creating jobs and you are now over-taxing the few who
are struggling to make ends meet. Are you going to tax jobless people? Or will
you tax those whose businesses are already closing?
“I spoke about debt in 2017 but because I’m just a trader
and I don’t work in World Bank, no one listens to me. Our debt is toxic. There
is nothing wrong in borrowing if we are borrowing for production. If you are
borrowing for consumption, you have a crisis because you can’t pay it and that
is why we are having problems today" he said.
