Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts are wrongly focused on minor offenders while those responsible for stealing billions of naira are left unchecked.
Speaking during the build-up to the 2023 general elections, Obi criticised the government for prioritising the pursuit of small-scale cybercrime suspects and minor financial offenders instead of addressing large-scale corruption that, according to him, is draining the country’s resources.
He argued that the funds lost to high-level corruption could significantly reduce Nigeria’s reliance on borrowing, stressing that the country must first “stop the bleeding” before seeking new loans.
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Obi said the focus should be on preventing further economic deterioration rather than being consumed by past wrongs.
He said: “I’m saying we are busy chasing small boys who they said did yahoo yahoo and took two million, three million, even going to talk about death collection or even chasing people who, but we left those who are taking billions. For me, I will focus on today.
“For example, we are borrowing money, but the amount of money we are missing can actually supplement for what we are borrowing. So it is critical that you first stop the bleeding. When you have a situation where things go wrong, you first stop the deterioration.
“When I came to Anambra State, I didn’t go chasing anybody. It’s not my business. I don’t want to be trapped in the process of yesterday. I want to be trapped in changing the future. And like I said, if I come in today to be president of Nigeria, on day one, Nigerians will know the difference. And I’ll start.
“When I went to Anambra State, on my speech, I told them, I said, when I leave here, you will see the difference in area of education, in area of fighting extreme poverty, in area of health. And I can say, I built the first state teaching hospital in this country. Two years. I changed, started a university campus from scratch. Go there, you will see it. I get to Anambra State University, receive the highest money ever given to a state university in one year. Five billion. Go there. What I’m saying is verifiable. You know, so it’s simple. You can go there and see it.”
