Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has thrown a direct challenge to the Federal Government, asking it to present verifiable evidence of the ₦1 trillion it claims to have disbursed to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) since 2015.

In a statement shared on his verified X handle, Obi cited a report from the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), which claims to have released the huge sum over the years to empower small businesses. However, he expressed serious doubts about the impact of the disbursement, noting that the majority of Nigerians are unaware of either the bank’s existence or its activities.

According to Obi, if indeed such an amount was truly injected into the MSME sector, the results should be clear and measurable. He explained that ₦1 trillion (over $1 billion) could have transformed the economy if distributed in small loans averaging $1,000 each—supporting at least one million small businesses and creating ripple effects like three million new jobs, improved enterprise growth, and poverty reduction.

Instead, Obi said, the reality facing Nigerians is starkly different. “Unemployment is at record highs, businesses are shutting down or relocating abroad, and poverty continues to deepen,” he lamented.

He went further to question:

Who exactly benefited from this ₦1 trillion?

What businesses were created or sustained?

Where are the jobs that should have followed such an investment?

Obi insisted that without concrete answers, the claim amounts to another round of government deception, where scarce resources are captured by a few elites under the guise of empowerment schemes.

“Nigerians deserve transparency and accountability,” Obi stressed. “Empowerment is not about slogans or statistics—it must reflect in the lives of ordinary citizens.”

His challenge has now opened up a fresh debate on the government’s handling of empowerment funds and the glaring lack of visible impact on Nigeria’s struggling economy.