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.
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