According to Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, only leaders who can pinpoint the nation’s issues can guide the populace toward the new Nigeria they long for.
At a town hall meeting held at the University of Abuja on Friday, he made this statement to the students present.
Obi said, “I assure you that a new Nigeria is possible and that new Nigeria will be made possible by leaders who understand what the problem is. This election that is coming ought not to be based on ethnicity. If you are from the North and anybody says vote for me because I am from the North, tell him that the poorest people are from the North.
“They haven’t solved for years, in fact, it is unsecured. They have voted North since but what did they do? They used the controversies to ride to power. South-East is the same thing, poor people are everywhere. So please, it is not about ethnicity.”
The Labour Party presidential candidate said that despite having a vast amount of fertile land that could ensure that Nigeria not only fed itself as a nation but also exported agricultural goods to generate foreign cash, nine out of the country’s ten poorest states were in the north.
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the party’s national chairman, Julius Abure, Valentine Ozigbo, and Ambassador Joe Keshi are also members of Obi’s entourage.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso was the first to show up for the UNIABUJA town hall series before Obi.