Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has raised sharp questions over the Development Bank of Nigeria’s (DBN) claim that it has disbursed more than ₦1 trillion (about $1 billion) to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) since 2015. Obi, who has been vocal about transparency in governance, said the supposed disbursement has left no visible impact on Nigeria’s struggling economy.
In a statement, Obi noted that despite DBN’s reported figures, most small businesses he has encountered across the country are either unaware of the bank’s existence or have never accessed its funds. “I wanted to investigate further, especially through my travels and contacts with small businesses. The reality is that more than 80 percent are not even aware of the Bank’s existence,” he said.
According to Obi, if ₦1 trillion truly went into the hands of entrepreneurs, the impact would have been transformative. “If $1 billion were disbursed in small loans averaging about $1,000 each, it could have supported at least one million small businesses. The ripple effect would have created no less than three million jobs, visible enterprise growth, and measurable progress in lifting people out of poverty,” he argued.
Instead, the Labour Party leader painted a bleak picture: unemployment at record highs, local businesses collapsing or relocating abroad, and poverty levels deepening. He asked a direct question: “If ₦1 trillion truly left the coffers of DBN to empower Nigerians, where did the money go?”
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Obi insisted that empowerment must be measured by results, not press releases or statistics. He pressed DBN to disclose the identities of the beneficiaries, the businesses funded, and concrete evidence of jobs created. Without accountability, he said, the trillion-naira claim risks becoming “another grand deception where scarce national resources are captured by a few elites and recycled under the guise of empowerment.”
Calling for transparency, Obi emphasized that Nigerians deserve proof that such vast sums are improving lives and building the future. “Empowerment is not a slogan or a campaign tool, it must be proven by results,” he declared.
The former Anambra State governor’s intervention has reignited the debate over government-backed funding for small businesses, putting pressure on DBN to back its claims with verifiable data.
