2023: Obi challenges Nigerians to probe claims of presidential aspirants

A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peter Obi has challenged political parties and Nigerians in general to investigate claims being made by presidential aspirants in the build up to the 2023 general elections.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, while speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday, said it was not enough to accept the claims of achievements in previous endeavours by aspirants.

The former governor, spoke against the backdrop of the number of aspirants that have thrown their hat into the ring to contest for the presidency, and the dilly-dallying that has accompanied the primaries of the two major political parties in the country.

Obi moved that more time should be given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order to ensure antecedents and credentials of all aspirants are meticulously investigated.

Obi, also blamed Nigeria’s deepening problems on the transactional nature of its politics, noting, that politicians in Nigeria have blighted the hopes and aspirations of the country through their needless monetization of politics.

The presidential hopeful, lamented the horrible philosophy of Nigerian politicians which he said was at variance with what the country desires to forge ahead.

Read also: OPINION: Peter Obi’s supporters are demarketing him

The ex-governor said nowhere in the world has politics become more extravagant than it has been in Nigeria, adding that there was need for swift paradigm shift.

Sharing the experience of his recent tour of the thirty-four states of the Federation, Obi bemoaned the detrimental and unmonitored relationship existing between the leaders and the led.

He noted: “My tour of states of the Federation was more than wooing delegates and leaders ahead of the primaries. I did not understand how things work. To discover ways to build a more cohesive and caring society. I discovered that a lot of things are wrong with our politics.

“It is no argument to understand that no country can survive in the way of Nigeria’s politics. Our politics remains merely transactional. Currency is the measure of faith and trust in the country. Our politicians abandon our currency and switch to dollars. Politicians without legitimate sources of income delight in spending money extravagantly. This can never happen in any rational country of the world.

“In Nigeria we are concerned about spending. Where we cannot pay gratuities, salaries and others. Our kids are out of schools. We don’t bother. Despite the fact that there are lots of crises in the country, politicians have money to share. The more I travelled to each of the states, the more worried I became. This cannot continue.”

Peter Obi also lamented the bane of bad leadership in the country, stressing that Nigeria deserves a new leadership poised to go in a new direction.

He bemoaned the country’s over-reliance on oil and consumption, adding that any country desirous of development must be made productive.

“Nigeria isn’t a poor country. Its leadership is. Leadership makes the country poor. I look at the massive lands with which the country is endowed and ask myself how we got here. We have created an unproductive country. Most industries in the states I visited are moribund. There is need for a committed leadership.

“Nigeria is blessed with industrious people. We can invest in our hard working youths and women. The youths doing Yahoo Yahoo just need a leader that can make them see things differently. This is no rocket science. We have the resources.”

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