The Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has again called on Nigerians to vote for a leader who is ready to be accountable, as the nation moves toward the 2023 general election.
Obi, who made the call when he appeared on the Kaftan TV programme, “The Candidate” on Monday night, assured that he was ready to face the challenges of tackling Nigeria’s socio-economic problems, added that “job creation and tackling poverty” are necessary if Nigeria must tackle insecurity.
The LP flag bearer described the recent report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which revealed that about 133million Nigerians are living in poverty, as “highly regrettable,” adding that the country has “crises in her hands because the people don’t know where their next meal will come from.”
According to him, “To deal with this, we need to deal with the issue of food. We need to look at how do we feed the country considering that the greatest physical asset we have in this country is the uncultivated land in the North.”
He assured that there would be no room for excuses and blame games if he was elected as President in 2023.
Obi urged Nigerians to ensure that they elect the right candidate, adding that “the job of a leader is to solve problems, find solutions to economic challenges facing the nation and build the economy.”
Obi, while speaking on his relationship with the Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party( NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso, denied claims that he offered Kwankwaso money to step down for him.
Speaking further on the economy, the LP Presidential flag bearer, said Nigeria would not borrow for consumption under his administration
“I am not against borrowing, but we will not encourage borrowing for consumption.
The 2021 budget is about N21 trillion with a deficit of about N11trillion; all these are estimates. Approximately, N6 trillion is for subsidy. By the time you remove subsidy, you’ve reduced this by half. I believe subsidy must go.”
The Television programme which was moderated by renowned broadcaster, Kadaria Ahmed, was part of the series of activities by the Labour Party candidate, who had earlier assured Nigerians that he would take advantage of every opportunity to explain his plans for Nigerians through available platforms.
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The Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (LPPCC) had earlier begun the process of recruiting polling unit agents, a group it described as it’s cell “Soldiers” to checkmate rigging in the forthcoming 2023 general election nationwide.
The party’s polling units agents, BusinessDay gathered, will be trained on modern monitoring system to ensure that the party is not manipulated out of the 2023 polls.
Yunus Tanko, the Spokesman for the LPPCC, said the volunteers would function as canvassers for the Labour Party now and during the elections next year.
Tanko stated this while inaugurating the first set of the cell “Soldiers” at Dawaki polling unit four which happens to be his polling booth. Dawaki is a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory that lies between Gwarimpa and Kubwa.
He revealed that the party was targeting between 150 and 200 volunteers within each polling unit across the country adding that, “we are recruiting not just people who would canvass for votes for our candidates but people who themselves are voters with permanent voters cards, (PVCs).
“These people are also expected to stay within the polling booths and watch the votes counted at the end of voting and ensure that the actual results are recorded and transmitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) servers.
The volunteers, according to him, “are to be armed with campaign materials such as T-shirts, Fez caps and handbills with which to campaign for the various candidates of the party at all levels.
“The Dawaki polling unit four is being headed by Hafisu Muhammad and he is being assisted by Biggy Adamu and they have pledged to work assiduously to ensure that they deliver,” he stated.
Tanko further said that he was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm being shown by the people, adding, “it shows that Nigerians have actually keyed into our presidential candidate’s message of ‘take back Nigeria.’”
