Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has questioned president Bola Tinubu’s leadership style over the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential jets in France and Switzerland.
A French court had granted a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, an order to seize three Nigerian jets following a dispute over a free trade zone which the company entered with the Ogun State Government in 2007.
The Ogun state government had revoked the contract in 2015 forcing the aggrieved company to approach an Arbitral panel and was awarded $60m against the Nigerian government which was a co- defendant.
Obi described the seizure as “yet another of many embarrassing things exposing our failed leadership and our attitude to the rule of law even in a democracy.”
He said ‘it has also exposed multiple dimensions to our leadership failure and our insensitivity to the plight of the growing poor class in our midst.”
He argued that the fact that the federal government “went ahead with the jet deal despite the cacophonous cry against the purchase of a Presidential jet at this time when the people are going through a horrifying economic hardship shows the insensitivity of this administration.
“Added to it is the embarrassing aspect of our country’s Presidential jets being held for contractual breaches arising from yet another dimension of inadequate leadership tidiness. I
“I have been loud in my demand over time that the government at all levels should be accountable to the people, meaning that they must be very transparent in all their dealings.
“Until a court in France prohibits Nigeria from moving or selling these three jets, Nigerians have no iota of information about both the buying and selling of these aircraft,” Obi said.
He stressed that buying of the jet “has been done in secrecy. Federal Government property, which belongs to the people, is being managed as a personal family asset.
“Paying as much as $100m dollars for a Presidential jet for a country that is the poverty capital of the World and has more out-of-school children with over 40% food inflation is the height of concern for the people’s feelings.
“This incident has also opened up an aspect of indiscipline that is copiously embedded in our country which is the abuse and disrespect for the rule of law.”
Obi posed some questions, asking, “To what extent did the Ogun government follow its agreement with the Chinese firm?
“After the UK court ruling that prohibited some Nigeria building in Liverpool, what did both the Ogun state and Federal government do before the French court action?”
He said he “would like to, therefore, challenge the federal government to come clean and transparent on this matter and tell Nigerians how we got to this latest international mess”