₦300bn Presidential Jet Purchase Could Have Delivered 4,000 Hospitals — Peter Obi Slams Tinubu
Story: written by Myra January 7,2026
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over what he described as misplaced spending priorities, faulting the government for allocating about ₦300 billion to acquire an additional presidential aircraft instead of investing in healthcare infrastructure across the country.
Obi argued that the amount spent on the jet was enough to construct more than 4,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide, which he said would have had a far-reaching impact on ordinary Nigerians.
The former Anambra State governor also questioned the decision to spend ₦39 billion on renovating the National Conference Centre in Abuja and another ₦21 billion on rebuilding the Vice-President’s official residence, noting that the combined ₦60 billion could have been used to purchase hundreds of life-saving ambulances.
According to Obi, a standard ambulance costs about ₦150 million, meaning the funds used for the two projects alone could have provided roughly 400 new ambulances — about 11 for each state, including the Federal Capital Territory.
In a post shared on X, Obi recounted a conversation he had with a newly graduated nursing student during an Air Peace flight from Imo to Lagos. He said the young woman lamented the absence of an ambulance for boxer Joshua, wondering if Nigeria lacked such basic services because it was a poor country.
Obi said the comment deeply moved him, but he responded by insisting that Nigeria is not poor, only poorly governed.
“Constructing a primary healthcare centre costs about ₦75 million. Yet Nigeria spent around ₦300 billion on an extra presidential jet — enough to build over 4,000 healthcare centres, roughly 110 in each state,” Obi stated. “If functional ambulances were available, lives that were lost might have been saved.”
He concluded that the most noticeable benefit of the new aircraft, in his view, was enabling the president to travel discreetly, rather than improving the welfare of Nigerians.
