Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Peter Obi, has found rare common ground with President Bola Tinubu over infrastructure priorities, backing the President’s call against the indiscriminate construction of flyovers while urging governments to channel scarce resources into rebuilding Nigeria’s collapsing road network.
Obi, in a statement issued on Saturday, said the nation’s worsening economic realities demand a shift from high-profile capital projects to the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, particularly federal highways that have become increasingly unsafe for commuters and businesses.
The former Anambra State governor said he had long advocated completing inherited and abandoned projects before embarking on new ones, arguing that governments should be guided by public need rather than political prestige.
“The President is, in essence, saying what I have always maintained: government must prioritise projects that directly address the immediate needs of the people,” Obi said.
While commending Tinubu’s position, Obi urged the Federal Government to demonstrate the same philosophy through its own spending decisions, warning against embarking on what he described as white-elephant projects while critical transport infrastructure continues to deteriorate.
He noted that several strategic highways connecting major commercial centres and agricultural belts have fallen into disrepair, increasing transportation costs, endangering lives and disrupting the movement of goods across the country.
According to him, restoring these roads would produce more immediate economic and social benefits than investing billions of naira in projects with limited impact on the daily lives of Nigerians.
Obi said prudent management of public resources has become imperative as the country grapples with fiscal constraints, insisting that completing viable ongoing projects represents better value than launching fresh initiatives that may ultimately be abandoned.
Recalling his years as governor of Anambra State, he said his administration deliberately completed inherited projects before introducing new ones, maintaining that governance is a continuous responsibility rather than an opportunity to erase the legacies of previous administrations.
He stressed that the quality of leadership should be judged not by the number of projects initiated but by the willingness to complete existing ones, revive failing infrastructure and invest where public benefit is greatest.
“Leadership is about making the right choices: fixing what is broken, completing what has already been started, and investing limited public resources where they will have the greatest impact on the greatest number of people,” Obi stated.