The presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 20223 polls in Nigeria, Peter Obi, has responded to the allusion by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he is a stingy man.
Obi gave the reply on Friday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during a rally of the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 polls.
The Eagle Online recalls that Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, had accused Obi of stinginess as Governor of Anambra State.
He said rather than spend to meet the needs of the people, he stored the resources of the state.
But replying during the rally in Akure, Obi said the country would be safer in the hands of a stingy man.
He said this would be the only way in which he can have money to spend on different sectors of the country, including education, health and economy.
The former two-term Anambra State Governor said: “Yes they said l am stingy, but we are not out to steal the nation’s wealth, but all we want to do is to use the nation’s money for our people and development of this country
“They said that I’m stingy, we want stingy people now so that we can keep the money.
“We want to make sure we use your money to transform the country.
“This election that is coming now, don’t vote for anybody because of tribe, but vote for someone that will move the country forward.
“This election is about character and people we can trust.
“Everybody knows the schools my running mate and I attended.
“You all know our age, our schools and everything about us.
“Our backgrounds are known.
“When I was the governor in Anambra, everybody knows what I did, all the works I did.
“When I left government, I left $150 million.
“Everybody knows this.
“They know where I live.
“You can go and verify.”
On insecurity in Nigeria, Obi said: “The entire Nigeria is insecure.
“People are living in suffering and hunger.
“We want to secure and unite Nigeria.
“We want to move Nigeria from consumption to production.
“No more schools strikes.
“We will support small businesses.
“No Nigerian will leave his or her community because of insecurity.
“We guarantee you that insecurity will stop.
“We want to fight corruption.
“We will make sure that we have electricity.
“The presidency is not a birthright of any of the ethnic groups in the country.
“We don’t want anybody to say that it is my turn.
“We want to change Nigeria for the better.
“Our children will be in school.
“We don’t want people to run out of Nigeria again.
“We want to structure Nigeria for development.
“We want to build a better Nigeria, so go out and support us.
“So go and pick your PVCs and vote for Labour Party and make sure that they count the vote.
“I’m the only Governor that left good money in office as far as the history of Anambra State is concerned.
“We will make sure that our security men work in a conducive environment and their families will be okay so that they can protect the citizens very well.
“We’ll instal structures that will work in Nigeria.”
The National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, said Nigeria was at a crossroad, with all sectors not working.
Abure said: “We need somebody like Peter Obi that knows the way.
“He has all it takes to change the political narratives and dynamics.”
The Campaign Coordinator of the Labour Party in the South West, Chief Sola Ebiseni, said it was the turn of the South East to produce the president of the country.
Ebiseni said for fairness and equality, the South East should take over from President Muhammadu Buhari.
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