Peter Obi, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has questioned the Development Bank of Nigeria’s (DBN) claim that it has disbursed more than ₦1 trillion to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since 2015.

In a statement on his X handle Wednesday, the former Anambra governor said his interactions with business owners across the country suggest that most are unaware of the bank’s existence, let alone its alleged interventions.

Last week, DBN announced that it had disbursed over ₦1 trillion in empowerment programmes, with 62 percent targeted at women. Managing Director Tony Okpanachi, represented by Idris Salihu, the bank’s head of corporate services, said the initiative was designed to improve women’s access to finance and reduce financial exclusion.

Obi, however, argued that if such an amount — equivalent to over $1 billion — had been deployed as small loans averaging $1,000 each, at least one million small businesses would have benefited, creating no fewer than three million jobs.

“The reality is that over 80 percent of small business operators are not even aware of the bank’s existence,” Obi said. “If ₦1 trillion truly left the coffers of DBN to empower Nigerians, where did the money go?”

He urged the bank to publish details of the disbursements, including the list of beneficiaries, businesses supported, and jobs created.

According to Obi, Nigeria’s worsening unemployment, business closures, and deepening poverty contradict DBN’s claims. He warned that empowerment schemes must not be reduced to slogans or political rhetoric but must show measurable results.

“Without answers, the claim of ₦1 trillion disbursement remains yet another grand deception, where scarce national resources are captured by a few elites and recycled under the guise of empowerment,” Obi said.

He stressed that transparency and accountability are crucial to ensuring public funds are deployed for the benefit of ordinary Nigerians.