The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has attacked former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi over his claim that Nigeria could become significantly wealthier if public funds were kept in banks to generate interest.
Keyamo, in a post on his X account, described Obi’s argument as unintelligent and linked it to what he claimed was a sharp decline in the former governor’s approval ratings.
“This dumbness is beyond measure. I really don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. No wonder his approval ratings have plummeted so badly. Nigeria did not just dodge a bullet; it ducked a massive howitzer!” Keyamo wrote.
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Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), made the remarks during an interview with a radio station in Nasarawa State, where he argued that Nigeria would be far wealthier if public resources were properly managed and allowed to generate interest rather than being mismanaged.
“I wish everybody in this country left money in the bank; they have interest. Nigeria would have been so rich that we don’t know what to do with money,” Obi said.
The former Anambra governor also explained why his administration did not place much emphasis on publicising government projects through elaborate ceremonies or television appearances.
According to Obi, projects executed with public funds should be visible to the people without the need for extensive publicity.
“We did what we were doing with public money, so the public already see us working, so why are we going to do the ceremony or showing it on TV? Maybe I was wrong, but that was what happened,” he said.
