Following his ongoing trip to the United States of America, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has taken a swipe on the lifestyle of leaders in Nigeria.
Obi, in a post on X this Thursday, (25/9/25) regarding his ongoing three-day trip to the US, which took him to Atlanta, Washington, and Chicago, criticised Nigerian officials for flashy displays of power despite having much smaller budgets than their American counterparts.
The former Anambra state Governor made public that he travelled with Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens on the same flight from Atlanta to Washington and observed no special treatment for the mayor.
“He boarded and disembarked like every other passenger, without aides carrying bags, announcements, sirens, or entourages,” Obi pointed out.
He noted that Atlanta, with a city budget of around $3 billion, generates more revenue than Nigeria’s national budget, yet its mayor, Andre Dickens, maintains a modest public profile.
He lamented that: “In Nigeria, governors—most of whom oversee budgets smaller than Atlanta’s—and even local government chairmen, whose allocations are less than 1% of Atlanta’s, would have constituted a public nuisance with sirens, protocol officers, endless announcements, large entourages, and posters everywhere.”
The former LP Presidential Candidate challenged Nigerian leaders to change their public conduct and focus on service delivery, pointing to Dickens’ priorities of crime reduction, youth empowerment, and a minimum wage of $15 per hour for council workers as examples of effective, humble leadership.
