Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, responded to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate for the All Progressive Congress, by claiming that a stingy person would be safer to lead the nation.
Speaking at a gathering in Akure, Obi acknowledged that he is frugal yet responsible with public finances.
Obi claimed that the country will be safer in his hands because, despite being thrifty, he will be able to invest in the country’s development in other areas such as education, health, and the economy.
He said, “Yes they said l am stingy, but we are not out to steal the nation’s wealth but all we want to do is to use the nation’s money for our people and development of this country
“They said that I’m stingy, we want stingy people now, so that we can keep the money. We want to make sure we use your money to transform the country.
“This election that is coming now, don’t vote for anybody because of tribe but vote for someone that will move the country forward.
“This election is about character and people we can trust. Everybody knows the schools my running mate and I attended. You all know our age, our schools and everything about us. Our background are known.
“When I was the governor in Anambra, everybody knew what I did, all the work I did. When I left the government, I left $150m, everybody knows this, they know where I live, you can go and verify.
With the LP in charge, he claimed, the nation would be more safe since “the entire Nigeria is insecure, people are living in suffering and hunger.” Nigeria needs to be stabilized and unified. Nigeria needs to transition from consumption to production.
Obi said, “No more school strikes. We will support small businesses. No Nigerians will leave his or her community because of insecurity. We guarantee you that insecurity will stop. We want to fight corruption. We will make sure that we have electricity.
”The presidency is not a birthright of any of the ethnic groups in the country but said a credible, prudent and responsible leaders should be voted to power in 2023
“We don’t want anybody to say that it is my turn, we want to change Nigeria for better. Our children will be in school, we don’t want people to run out of Nigeria again. We want to structure Nigeria for development. We want to build a better Nigeria, so go out and support us.
“So go and pick your PVCs and vote for the Labour Party and make sure that they count the vote. I’m the only governor that left good money in office as far as the history of Anambra State is concerned.
“We will make sure that our security men work in a conducive environment and their families will be okay so that they can protect the citizens very well.
”We’ll instal structures that will work in Nigerian
On insecurity he said that “the entire Nigeria is insecured, people are living in suffering and hunger. We want to secure and unit Nigeria. We want to move Nigeria from consumption to production.
“No more schools strikes. We will support small businesses. No Nigerians will leave his or her community because of insecurity. We guarantee you that insecurity will stop. We want to fight corruption. We will make sure that we have electricity.”