Lasun Alagbe
Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has continued to paint the picture of the wastage that permeates government circles in Nigeria.
He is also highlighting how he tackled such when he was the Anambra State governor.
According to him, every day was like a festival in the Government House, and it was the same thing they greeted him with.
In a video going viral, Obi said, “When I just got to office, when I returned home – Government House – after work, I would meet all kinds of food. They used to cook for about 50 people. They slaughtered a cow every day. And I asked them: what are all of these meant for? They said because the Governor could have visitors. I asked them to stop it and start cooking for me alone. I told them that any time I would have visitors, I would tell them.”
He added that when people called that they wanted to see him, he preferred going to meet them in their houses even as a governor.
In that wise, it was the host who provided refreshment or food and drinks.
Obi added that he also stopped the culture of long convoys, saying he cut down the number of cars they allocated to a governor – about 17 – to six.
ALSO READ: ‘How we employed Tinubu at Mobil’
Besides, he said they used to consume N30m petrol monthly, adding that p to half of that could be stolen.
He said he not only reduced this, he also ensured that it was when he was inside his vehicles that they obught fuel.
He said he also shunned big hotels whenever he travelled, noting that he would sleep in N30, 000 hotels instead of where he would pay N250,000.
“I had a problem. If I slept in N250,000 I would keep awake till morning. I would not be able to sleep,” he said.
Obi explained that, with the prudent culture, he was able to pay pension owed, while also prosecuting infrastructural projects.
