Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, has criticised the federal administration, saying that it is inappropriate for the government to subsidise petrol while the health sector needs money.
This was said by Obi on Sunday during the Arise TV-hosted Town Hall series.
Reports say that the former Anambra state governor said that the budget for the health sector is unacceptable, and must be increased to at least 10 percent if the country wants to stop experiencing the brain drain currently marring the health sector.
“Do massive training of doctors who can live, who can stay here but the most important thing is the investment in the health sector. It is too low, it is unacceptable. You need to have at least 10 percent of your budget,” Obi said.
He emphasized that as opposed to investing in petroleum consumption, the government needs to focus on more critical areas such as health, education and fighting poverty.
His words, “These are areas where you have to do subsidy, not in petroleum consumption. There are areas where the government does subsidies and it is productive and development areas that are critical like health, education, and fighting poverty; these areas are where you need to invest. So there is a need to be a physical package to support the insurance which will allow them to treat high to low.”
“it’s being done in Indonesia, in India, I will show you big nations that are practicing it. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to learn what is being practiced somewhere and do the same.”
