Health Capital Budget Last Year Was ₦36M, Obi Spent More Than That In His Private Capital—Farotimi

Prominent human rights advocate and public commentator Dele Farotimi has leaped to the defense of Peter Obi’s economic stance, arguing that accusations of policy inconsistency miss the core principles of leadership, direction, and tangible accountability in governance.

In a recent interview on Channels Television, on Monday November 9, 2026, addressed criticisms regarding shifting policy positions on fuel subsidy, emphasizing that Obi’s approach was always rooted in holistic reinvestment rather than isolated deregulation.

Addressing claims that political aspirants have been inconsistent on the subsidy removal debate, Farotimi explained that policy decisions must be viewed within the context of what those reforms were originally designed to achieve:

“Now when you speak about inconsistency, you must understand that the first thing that must happen as a leader is that you must have clarity as to the direction of travel when Peter Obi, at least when I was involved in the campaign in 2023, when he was speaking about removal of subsidy, it wasn’t spoken of in isolation. In removing subsidy, you were supposed to be making savings and those savings were supposed to be going to certain critical sectors.”

Farotimi contrasted the promised benefits of deregulating the downstream petroleum sector with the stark reality of current budgetary allocations, questioning where the supposed trillions saved have vanished:

“How many of the critical sectors in Nigeria have received any of the monies supposedly saved from the removal of the subsidy? None. The capital budget for health last year was 36 million. Even Peter Obi spent more than that in his private capacity.”

Concluding his analysis on policy formulation, Farotimi asserted that true leadership requires adapting to empirical conditions on the ground rather than blindly adhering to dogmatic slogans:

“So when we’re talking about whether we are removing or not removing, I think it is always going to be informed by the objective reality that is found on the ground at any point in time.”

Watch the video starting from 16:27 to 17:25

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