Presidency has accused Peter Obi of hypocrisy over Tinubu’s COP28 delegation

The Presidency has accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, of hypocrisy following his comments about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s delegation to COP28.

Reacting to the number of Nigeria’s delegates at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Obi, in his X handle on Sunday said it is a waste of scarce resources.

According to a list published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), out of 81,027 delegates registered to attend the summit in person, Nigeria had 1,411 participants at the conference, the third-highest number, alongside China.

The former Anambra State governor described the situation as a “twist of sad irony” due to China’s unmatched financial advantage over Nigeria.

Reacting to the comments, spokesperson to Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, Stanley Nkwocha, in a statement on his X said it is a series of self-aggrandizement by Obi aimed at convincing Nigerians that he is the only person who has their interest at heart. 

“We have taken note of statements credited to presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi, in which he made yet another frail and futile attempt to paint the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration in bad light,” Nkwocha said.

“For good 24 hours, Obi danced naked in the public square, trying to curry the attention of those who care to listen to his falsehood and warped opinions about waste. 

“On Sunday, he accused the current administration of sponsoring over 1,400 delegates to Dubai for COP28. 

“The next day, being Monday, the subject of his new found passion – armchair criticism – after his colossal loss at the presidential poll was the proposed N15.5billion budgeted by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to renovate the house of the Vice President, which he claimed would pay the annual salary of 3,000 University Professors.”

Nkwocha said the Presidency would not have bothered to gratify Obi with a response, especially when it is obvious that the Labour Party candidate is an unhealthy subject to post-election trauma but it is necessary to put the records straight.

“In his recent tirade against President Tinubu and his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Obi started another series of self-aggrandizement aimed at convincing Nigerians that he is the only person who has their interest at heart. 

“But a clear shift of the veil will reveal deeply a man who is still sobbing after his woeful loss in the 2023 presidential election.”

The spokesperson explained the reason behind the N15.5 billion budget for the renovation of the VP’s house.

“It is necessary for the sake of history to clarify that the proposed plan for the construction of the Vice President’s official residence, for which budgetary allocation was made in the 2024 budget by the FCT Administration, was awarded by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. 

“It was not originated by the present administration. This, Mr Obi, knows but chose to play dumb all in a bid to inflamate a targeted group of Nigerians and, as usual, score cheap political goals, accolades and praises.”

He explained that the project which was reinitiated in 2010 and was funded by the Jonathan administration was abandoned before the current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, decided to resuscitate the building.