Peter Obi Slams Tinubu Over $9m Foreign Lobbyist Deal, Cites Poor HDI and Healthcare Neglect
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over what he described as an extravagant $9 million payment to foreign lobbyists, raising concerns about priorities amid Nigeria’s deepening development challenges, PulseNets learnt.
In a statement issued on Friday and obtained by PulseNets, the former Anambra State governor characterised the expenditure as both troubling and symbolic of broader governance failures, arguing that scarce public funds were being misapplied at a time of widespread hardship.
“It was recently reported that about $9 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on lobbyists in Washington. I see this as only a fraction of the waste happening globally in similar ways,” Obi said.
“This mirrors the shameful condition of our country. It is deeply tragic and concerning that leadership continues to elevate waste, corruption, propaganda, falsehoods, and negative development choices above meaningful, people-centred progress.”
PulseNets reported that the Federal Government engaged the DCI Group at a cost of $9 million to lobby in Washington, with the objective of persuading United States President Donald Trump that Nigeria was taking concrete steps to combat terrorism, particularly attacks on Christians in the northern part of the country.
Speaking further, Obi said Nigeria’s long-standing struggles were evident in its Human Development Index (HDI) performance, noting that the country had remained in the low HDI category from 1990 to 2025 despite possessing economic indicators comparable to, or even stronger than, several peer nations at the start of that period.
According to him, countries such as China and Indonesia, which were once in similar development brackets as Nigeria, had progressed to medium and high HDI levels due largely to sound leadership and deliberate policy choices.
“This is just one illustration of the wasteful spending that has driven our nation into its present failing state,” Obi stated.
“Nigeria has remained stuck in the low HDI category for 35 years, while nations like China—where Nigeria’s per capita income was about three times higher in 1990—and Indonesia moved from low to medium, and now to high human development levels.”
He emphasised that these outcomes were not accidental, stressing that leadership quality and prioritisation were decisive factors.
“Their progress was not because of destiny, miracles, or superior natural resources. It was the result of clear choices and the cumulative impact of good leadership versus bad leadership. That is the power of prioritisation,” he added.
Obi also recalled that Nigeria’s economic advantage over China in 1990 made the current disparity even more striking, insisting that policy direction—not resource scarcity—explained the divergent outcomes.
To further underscore his argument, the Labour Party leader cited allocations in the 2024 capital budget for federal teaching hospitals, details of which were obtained by PulseNets.
“For the 2024 capital budget, allocations to our teaching hospitals include ₦2.67 billion for University College Hospital, Ibadan; ₦2.46 billion for Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; ₦2.8 billion for University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; ₦2.43 billion for University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City; ₦1.16 billion for University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital; and ₦2.37 billion for University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital—bringing the total to about ₦13.9 billion for these premier medical institutions,” Obi said.
He argued that the $9 million paid to foreign lobbyists could have been more judiciously deployed within the health sector.
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“That same $9 million could have been invested in critical medical equipment for Nigerian hospitals, strengthening our healthcare system and improving our national image in a more meaningful and lasting way,” he noted.
Obi concluded by describing the spending as unacceptable, insisting that public funds should be directed toward urgent domestic priorities rather than image management overseas, PulseNets learnt.
