Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has told Nigerians not to vote for him based on ethnic or entitlement sentiments, but on the competence he comes with.
The former Anambra State Governor made the assertion this during the Presidential Town Hall series organized the Centre for Democracy and Development in collaboration with Arise TV on Sunday.
According to Obi, he has the capacity to take Nigeria out of its current predicament and it is on that basis should Nigerians vote for him.
He affirmed that “it is nobody’s turn but that of the youth and the women.”
He said, “Do not vote for Peter Obi because I am from the South-East, because I am a Christian, because I am an Igbo man, or because it is my turn. It is turn of Nigeria Youth and Women. It is nobody’s turn.
“I want you to vote for Peter Obi because I am qualified. Because I am competent. I know what I can do to put this country out of the brink.”
On how he would solve the security challenges of the country, Obi stressed the need to strengthen and revive the local vigilante system in the country and have them work together with the police.
He said, “To provide for every community a vigilante system, that is working, provide them with vehicles, communication equipment, linking them to work with police.”
The presidential candidate also slammed the incumbent government for not being proactive and failure to adhere to intelligence in forestalling the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
He said he would have acted swiftly to rescue kidnap victims if he was the Commander-in-Chief, describing government’s response to kidnap incidents as weak.
“There was a failure of intelligence processor because before that incident happened, from information available, there were already indications of insecurity within that rail corridor as well as previous attempts and intelligence that were ignored. So, there was a failure of processing and giving due attention to intelligence which I would have promptly dealt with.
“Two, when it happened, government’s action and communication were weak. If I was commander-in-chief, we would have acted swiftly and throughout that process, we’ll have remained in communication and at least, showed consistent empathy to that families of those involved,” he said.
“And I think that shows the overall need for us to improve our intelligence processing and give an immediate response, whenever such a situation arises.”
He further added that insecurity would have been reduced to the barest minimum if more people were taken out of poverty.
“I have said consistently that the more people you put out of poverty, the more you reduce the criminality that is in the country,’’ he argued.
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Responding to a question about what he would do to address graft, he stated, “I have always argued that they are doing what they are doing in a country where those people in government are richer than entrepreneurs. I served a state for eight years and you can go to that state and see not one day did I ever borrow from any financial institution in Nigeria. I was not in any position or have never been invited by anybody for questions about their missing money since the day I left office.
“I wasn’t owing anybody; any contractor that delivered his project, I wasn’t owing any supply that was delivered. I was not owing salary, gratuity or anybody.
“In three banks in Nigeria, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and Diamond Bank, I left in each $50 million and over N10 billion for the state. I am like them as angry as they are that we must be able to chase out those where they passed nobody can account of what they were given.’’
Speaking about IPOB, Yoruba Nation and others, he said some Nigerians feel marginalized and the best way to handle such is to call for a dialogue.
Obi added that, flooding in the country is manageable and the best way to reduce such menace is by dredging canal and other form of waterways.