Presidency Knocks Obi over Comments on Proposed N15bn Shettima’s Residence Renovation

•Discloses contract conceived, awarded by Jonathan government

•Says administration ready to complete all abandoned projects

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The presidency, yesterday, knocked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, for questioning the motive for the proposed N15.5 billion budgeted by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to renovate the Aguda House official residence of the Vice President.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had recently revealed that the government planned to use the funds for a “befitting residence” for the nation’s Vice President.

With so many significant issues confronting the country, Obi attacked the idea in a series of tweets on his X handle on Monday, calling it “shocking and disheartening.”

Reacting to the criticism, the presidency, in a release by the media aide to the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, accused Obi of dancing “naked in the public square, trying to curry the attention of those who care to listen to his falsehood and warped opinions about waste.”

It further stated that Obi was merely embarking on armchair criticism of the Tinubu administration after his colossal loss at the presidential poll. 

According to the presidency, “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.”

The statement further clarified 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 inflame a targeted group of Nigerians and, as usual, score cheap political goals, accolades and praises.

“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have bothered to gratify Peter Obi with a response, especially when it is obvious that the Labour Party candidate is an unhealthy subject to post-election trauma. But it has become 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.”