‘Mockery of governance’ — Obi tackles Adamawa LG chairmen for sponsoring wives to Turkey

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has criticised Adamawa LGA chairmen for sponsoring their wives to Turkey for a leadership training programme.

Wives of 21 LGA chairmen, accompanied by senior officials from the ministry of local government, reportedly travelled to Istanbul last week for the programme.

Suleiman Toungo, chairman of Toungo LGA and head of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, said the training was designed to equip their spouses with leadership skills.

He added that, since the chairmen had undergone training themselves, their wives also needed similar exposure to help them “offer useful advice on governance”.

Reacting in a post on X on Saturday, Obi described the trip as a wasteful use of scarce public resources.

He said the estimated N600 million spent on the foreign trip could have been channelled into improving basic education, funding classrooms, or supporting women-led businesses in the state.

“I have just read the disturbing report that the wives of 21 local government chairmen in Adamawa State were sponsored with public funds to travel to Turkey under the guise of leadership training,” the post reads.

“Today, while our children at the basic education level — whose education is the responsibility of local governments—are out of school, and those in school lack classrooms and teachers, while LGA pensioners are likely owed, and teachers continue to struggle under economic hardship, it is disheartening that scarce resources are channelled into frivolities such as foreign trips for the wives of local government chairmen who hold no public office, at an estimated cost of about ₦600 million in public funds.”

‘IT’S A MOCKERY OF GOVERNANCE’

Obi commended Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, for his efforts in infrastructure development in Yola, but stressed that the state still requires urgent investment in education, healthcare, and poverty reduction.

“While I sincerely commend Governor Fintiri and his team for their efforts, especially in the area of infrastructure in Yola, Adamawa still remains one of the states in urgent need of investment in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation,” he said.

“Such money, if directed at women micro-credit at an average of ₦100,000 each for women-led micro businesses, would uplift 6,000 women—about 300 women in each LGA—which would be far more impactful than this wasteful spending.

“Basic education in particular cannot afford to lose such a huge amount, as the over half-a-billion naira in question could have funded about 30 blocks of six classrooms at an average cost of ₦20 million each, directly impacting the lives of countless children and communities.

“We must return to prudent, people-oriented governance. Local government funds belong to the people: the market woman, the farmer, the teacher, the pensioner, and every ordinary Nigerian who depends on government for basic amenities.

“Anything short of that is an abuse of office and should not be condoned; this is not only a glaring case of waste but a mockery of the very essence of governance.”