Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi has questioned the spending of N3 billion by the government of President Bola Tinubu on the verification of ‘poor citizens’ national register.
The former Anambra State governor was reacting to a leaked document, which revealed that President Tinubu’s administration has approved the Humanitarian Affairs ministry to spend N3 billion for verification of national register of the poor from COVID palliative funds.
“It is very surprising to hear that the sum of N3 billion was approved for verification of national register of the poor,” Obi said in a series tweets on his X page
“This can only happen in Nigeria. I have maintained that we must decisively deal with the issue of cost of governance in Nigeria now as a matter of urgency.”
Mr Obi argued that N3 billion would go a long way in alleviating poverty alleviation rather than spending it on verification of national register of poor citizens.
“The same amount would have made a significant impact if prudently and transparently managed. Moreso, with more than half of our population battling with absolute and multidimensional poverty, one wonders why such a huge sum was approved for just verification of national register of the poor, when the same amount could have been directed towards actual poverty alleviation.
“This approval raises a fundamental question: how come the data for poverty alleviation has not been verified on a regular basis?”
