I was quoted out of context, Peter Obi reacts to viral video of him speaking about Tinubu

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in an interview with Nigerian journalist and media entrepreneur, Chude Jideonwo, said that people took his statement about Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, out of context.

Mr Obi had in a viral video claimed that Mr Tinubu was not physically fit for the office of president but that most people around him are supporting his ambition because of the money they will get from him.

In the viral footage which was an excerpt of the interaction between Njenje Media TV and the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Obi reacted to a WhatsApp message he claimed was sent to him by a Tinubu support group, urging Yoruba people not to vote for him based on ethnic sentiments.

“Yoruba shine your eyes o, if you vote for Peter Obi, it is automatically voting for seaports in South-South and South East. The Igbos will stop coming to Lagos State to invest, rather they will go to Delta and Rivers states, they may even stop building houses in Lagos. It will affect a lot of Yorubas. Yoruba ro nu o,” the message read.

Peter Obi in the viral video made some remarks about the WhatsApp message.

“He doesn’t see the value of let’s have something better, he leads on with confusion and that’s it.

“Somebody said to me that this candidate fought the Abacha regime to stand still. That he even lost everything. I said, but he has two planes now. Where is his company?

Read also:Peter Obi denies receiving diaspora donations

“Once he comes here and gives you money, you will say Jagaban is the best candidate even when the man is not well. That’s the problem of the country.

“My brother, we are in a crisis. That’s why I’m pleading to all of us. Let us go and take back our country and run it like any other country where the leader is responsible to the people. The people can question the rascality and the behaviour of their leader. Bad behaviour has become a measure of success in our system,” he said.

However, the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) attacked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, over his comment on the health of its candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The council, in a statement by one of its spokespersons, Bayo Onanuga, last week Tuesday, said Mr Obi lacks the qualification to comment on Mr Tinubu’s health.

“We find these statements unbecoming of a man who nurses the ambition to be Nigeria’s next president.

“Since he is not Asiwaju’s doctor and is not privy to his medical record, Obi, the poor philosophy graduate, has again disgracefully elevated what has for long been a beer parlour gossip and social media lie being propagated by his IPOB supporters. Obi in his characteristic manner is amplifying falsehood which should not have a place in a decent political campaign,” Onanuga said.

In a recent interview with Chude Jideonwo the labour presidential candidate said that he was taken out of context.

“Quite frankly, so many people took me out of context. I was just trying to explain to people the type of messages people send. Why would people be sending a message that if I become president nobody would invest in Lagos again? I’ll close the ports of Lagos. Everybody knows that Lagos today as it is, the ports are congested. We need to develop new ports, new areas, we need to expand the business. Lagos is still our financial center.

“People have abandoned their properties in Apapa because it has become a mess. Apapa that used to be a reference place of living. people have abandoned it. So you need to open up all those things. And opening them up trying to decongest the port by opening new ports,” he said.

Speaking further he said that though he regards Tinubu as his ‘respected elder brother’ he doesn’t agree that the APC presidential aspirant should remain in power forever.

“He’s a respected elder brother of mine. I respect him for who he is.

“Everybody has contributed one way or the other in the past and they have to be respected in due time. But because they’ve contributed in the past doesn’t mean they have to stay forever and ever. We must have a situation where people have done their best, they get recognized and they move on. Just like Brazil is today. They recognize that Pele was sometimes a star. A fantastic footballer. But they’re not going to field him In today’s match,” he said.

By Promise Eze

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