{"id":2277,"date":"2026-10-28T11:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/nigeria-would-be-rich-if-leaders-left-public-funds-in-banks-obi\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:32:20","slug":"nigeria-would-be-rich-if-leaders-left-public-funds-in-banks-obi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/nigeria-would-be-rich-if-leaders-left-public-funds-in-banks-obi\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria would be rich if leaders left public funds in banks \u2013 Obi"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nigeria<\/p>\n

Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has said Nigeria would be significantly wealthier if leaders left public funds in banks to generate interest instead of mismanaging the country\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n

Obi, who is the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections, made the statement during an interview with a radio station in Nasarawa State on Wednesday, where he spoke about his administration\u2019s approach to public spending, accountability and his record in basic education.<\/p>\n

The former Labour Party presidential candidate argued that the country could have accumulated substantial wealth if public office holders consistently protected government funds and allowed them to earn interest in financial institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish everybody in this country left money in the bank; they have interest. Nigeria would have been so rich that we don\u2019t know what to do with money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Obi disclosed that the funds under his administration were kept in three different banks, presenting the decision as an example of prudent management of public resources.<\/p>\n

He also lamented what he described as a culture of dishonesty and the tendency to discredit people who act with integrity in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is a criminalised place. The criminals will always come together to show what the honest person did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former governor further criticised what he described as a reversal of moral values, arguing that people who act honestly are often treated as though they have committed wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Nigeria, to be honest is to be a criminal. To be criminal is to be honest,\u201d Obi said.<\/p>\n

He added that Nigeria would have accumulated far greater wealth if its leaders had consistently left public funds in banks rather than diverting them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have been worth so much that we don\u2019t know what to do with money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Obi also addressed questions surrounding his administration\u2019s public engagements, explaining that he believed the results of government projects should speak for themselves because they were financed with public funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did what we were doing with public money, so the public already see us working, so why are we going to do the ceremony or showing it on TV? Maybe I was wrong, but that was what happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former governor also defended his record in basic education, insisting that Anambra performed exceptionally well in the sector during his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the best in education, basic education as a governor. You can go and check the records,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He cited a visit by Professor Paul Collier of the University of Oxford, whom he said visited several states to assess developments in education and witnessed significant improvements.<\/p>\n

Obi maintained that education was a key measure of development and argued that his administration\u2019s performance in the sector demonstrated the impact of responsible leadership.<\/p>\n

The post Nigeria would be rich if leaders left public funds in banks \u2013 Obi<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has said Nigeria would be significantly wealthier if leaders left public funds in banks to generate interest instead of mismanaging the country\u2019s resources. Obi,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}