Prominent businessman and founder of Coscharis Group, Cosmas Maduka, has asserted that Peter Obi would not have pursued policies significantly different from those of the current administration had he won the presidential election.
Speaking on the Mic On Podcast with Okinbaloye via YouTube on Saturday, Maduka expressed confidence that Nigeria is on the right track, despite ongoing economic challenges.
He noted that critical measures such as subsidy removal were inevitable, regardless of who was in power.
“People have asked me, will Peter Obi have done anything different if he won the election? I said no. He would have removed subsidy from day one also,” Maduka stated.
Businessman weigh in on economic hardship
Addressing the public concerns over the economic downturn and the weakening naira, he acknowledged that, as a wealthy individual, such statements might be difficult for many to accept.
However, he stressed that the key priority should be ensuring that funds saved from subsidy removal are redirected towards infrastructure development.
“The government should be more disciplined to use the money they have removed in the subsidy to put it in infrastructure so that people that you have taken from, those who have been flying private jets from subsidy money, their businesses fall. But if you collect that money from them and put it in ventures that favor the general public, then there is progress,” he explained.
He cautioned that without strategic investment of these funds, the nation would remain stagnant.
“If you move from one tomb to another, you are still in the same graveyard. You haven’t gone anywhere,” he remarked.
Gospeller speaks about borrowing culture
Maduka also weighed in on Nigeria’s debt situation, clarifying that borrowing in itself is not inherently problematic. Instead, he emphasized that the purpose of borrowing determines its impact on the economy.
“The borrowing of a country is not a problem. What is the problem? Are you borrowing for capital development? Are you borrowing for infrastructural development? Because it will pay back itself. But if you are borrowing to take a second wife, if you are borrowing to share money for poverty alleviation, you are deepening the hole that, after we get inside, nobody can bring us out,” he stated.
He further stressed the importance of fiscal discipline in governance, urging authorities to rein in excessive spending and ensure that national resources are directed towards productive projects that will benefit the wider population.
“There is some level of discipline that is required to curtail excesses from the government. Are we in the right direction? Yes,” he concluded.
Peter Obi reacts after IBB June 12 admission
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and a prominent political figure, had reacted to former military president Ibrahim Babangida’s admission that MKO Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
In a statement made during an interview with TVC on February 21, Obi reflected on the significance of this acknowledgement and its implications for Nigeria’s democracy.
