Former Anambra State governor Peter Obi once again sounded the alarm over what he describes as the deepening culture of corruption in Nigeria’s governance, declaring that the country has effectively become “a crime scene.”
Obi made the damning assertion while reacting to the recent Senate revelation of staggering financial irregularities in the audited accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) from 2017 to 2023. The audit uncovered a mind-boggling ₦210 trillion in discrepancies₦103, 103 trillion in unexplained “accrued expenses”, and ₦107 trillion in unaccounted “receivables,” with no supporting documentation or accountability.
“This is not just another scandal,” Obi stated, “it is a clear and damning confirmation of a nation held hostage by monumental corruption.”
To put the scale of the alleged financial recklessness in perspective, Obi compared the figures to the country’s total national budgets within the same period, amounting to ₦88.010 trillion. According to him, the discrepancies at the NNPC are more than twice the size of Nigeria’s combined budgets from 2017 to 2023.
“Our total national budget within the said period was not up to 50% of the said financial discrepancies and irregularities,” he lamented. “This is a criminal institutionalised betrayal of the Nigerian people and a grave threat to the future of the society our children will live in.”
Obi, who has consistently campaigned on the platform of good governance and fiscal responsibility, warned that no serious nation could afford to overlook such a damning situation.
“No responsible nation can continue to function like this without confronting this truth. This criminality masquerading as governance must be stopped and dismantled for a better Nigeria.”
