Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has accused the presidency and the National Assembly of acting as “bandits” against the Nigerian masses.
Ezekwesili made these remarks during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, where she criticised the recent purchase of a new presidential aircraft, despite the worsening economic situation in the country.
She expressed her frustration, saying, “That aircraft is 19 years old. In everything that we have heard, they are trying to justify the purchase of the new aircraft.”
Ezekwesili further lambasted the political class, accusing them of disregarding the plight of Nigerians.
“The fellows dare to play with the intelligence of the public. The executive, the presidency, the National Assembly, I think they have decided that they are the bandits. The political class has decided that they are bandits against Nigerians,” she said.
Highlighting the country’s severe economic challenges, the former minister questioned the government’s priorities, citing the construction of N20 billion homes for the vice president, and the acquisition of luxury cars for National Assembly members and the executive.
“What exactly is that?” she asked.
Ezekwesili also pointed out that President Bola Tinubu should not be pitied for inheriting the economic situation, as his administration was in agreement with the policies of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
She added, “I said it publicly that it would not be a piece of cake to run the economy because of the absolute devastation of everything that even resembled economic policy. I don’t think they were doing economic policy under President Buhari. But this administration agreed with everything Buhari was doing. There in their own case, nobody should feel sorry for them.”
She criticized the Nigerian society for its short memory when it comes to governance issues, stressing the importance of political literacy and the role of education in holding leaders accountable.
“You cannot have education, an advanced one, and have political literacy that then the country will not matter to you,” she concluded.
