Peter Obi Slams FG Over Alleged $9 Million US Lobbying Deal, Says Nigeria Choosing Waste Over Lives
Former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over reports that Nigeria spent about $9 million on foreign lobbyists in Washington, describing the move as another example of misplaced priorities amid worsening socio-economic conditions at home.
In a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Friday, Obi said the alleged expenditure highlights a troubling pattern in which public funds are used to manage international perception while critical sectors within the country continue to deteriorate.
According to him, Nigeria’s deepening development crisis is not the result of fate or lack of resources, but the cumulative effect of poor leadership decisions and persistent waste.
“It is both tragic and concerning that our leaders continue to prioritise waste, corruption, propaganda, lies, and negative aspects of development over positive initiatives,” Obi said. “It was recently reported that about $9 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on lobbyists in Washington. This, I believe, is only a fraction of the global waste occurring in similar ways.”
He described the alleged deal as a painful reminder of how public resources are routinely deployed to obscure governance failures rather than address the lived realities of Nigerians.
Obi pointed to Nigeria’s long-standing stagnation on the Human Development Index (HDI) as evidence of the cost of such choices. He noted that the country has remained in the low HDI category for 35 years, from 1990 to 2025, while nations that were once at similar or worse levels have made remarkable progress.
“Countries like China and Indonesia, which were once in the same category as Nigeria — and where Nigeria even had a three-fold higher per capita income in 1990 — have moved from low to medium, and now to high human development,” he stated.
He stressed that these achievements were not driven by miracles or natural endowments, but by deliberate policy choices and sustained investment in people.
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Focusing on healthcare, Obi lamented Nigeria’s dire global rankings, describing the situation as unacceptable for a country with significant financial capacity.
“Nigeria today has the lowest life expectancy in the world and ranks among the top two countries globally for maternal mortality,” he said. “Childbirth has become one of the most dangerous experiences for Nigerian women. Instead of investing in life-saving systems, we spend millions trying to mask our failures.”
The former governor argued that the alleged $9 million lobbying expense could have been redirected to address urgent healthcare needs across the country.
“This amount is enough to fund the entire 2024 capital budget of at least one major teaching hospital in each geopolitical zone, directly improving survival rates, quality of care, and overall life expectancy,” he noted.
Obi concluded that Nigeria’s challenge is not a lack of funds, but the absence of discipline, prioritisation, and responsible leadership.
“Every naira of taxpayers’ money should serve the Nigerian people. Instead, citizens are dying in failing hospitals while government pays foreigners to pretend that all is well. We cannot continue to live in an illusion while our reality deteriorates. This culture of misplaced priorities must end,” he said.