The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Sunday night addressed ten key issues he will address if he emerges winner of next year’s presidential election.
Truetells Nigeria reports that Obi stated this at a debate organised by Arise Television in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Democracy (CDD) at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Aside the Labour Party candidate, others at the event include; the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Musa Kwankwaso, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-Presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa and Kola Abiola of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), while the ruling APC Flag bearer Bola Tinubu was conspicuously absent with nor representation.
It was gathered that the event almost ended in fracas, as protests erupted over the representation of the PDP Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar, by Okowa.
Shortly before the meeting started, supporters of other presidential candidates insisted that Governor Okowa must step down, since the meeting was for presidential candidates only.
It took several appeals to calm frayed nerves and bring the angry supporters to agreement, for Governor Okowa to stay on at the meeting.
At the meeting, Peter Obi, whose comments and figures were confirmed by fact check team, led by the Premium Times, addressed many issued bedeviling Nigeria.
1. On security challenges:
Peter Obi reiterated his earlier position that pulling people out of poverty is surest way to reduce criminality.
He said that Nigerians must in 2023, avoid electing persons who could not in their past, account for resources entrusted in their official care.
Obi said military experience was no prerequisite in tackling security challenges, that what was required was a good understanding of the problems and the ability to apply the right human and material resources for their urgent eradication.
2. On the oneness of the Office of the President and the Vice President:
The former Anambra State governor said the buck stops on the desk of the President, who is the single Commander-in-Chief, even though he works as a family with the Vice President.
However, interchangeability is not automatic, hence the President is required to formally hand over, in writing to his Vice if going overseas for an extended period.
3. On subsidy
Obi was emphatic on the issue of subsidy, saying that he will remove it, but invest the saved revenue properly, even as he insisted that oil theft is an organized crime which very much involves regulators.
4. On borrowing:
Peter Obi said he has never been against borrowing, but said it must be for production, not for consumption and wastages in government must be blocked to boost revenue and manage the exchange rate.
5. Speaking about diversification of the economy:
Obi said the economy was already diversified, but not enough attention had been made to boost production.
6. On devolution of power:
Obi said women and youth will be the engine of his administration if elected President and his record in Anambra State speaks for itself as women occupied critical positions in his administration as governor, including deputy governor, chief of staff, commissioners for finance, education etc.
7. Agriculture:
Borno State has very low production of Agriculture in relation to its large mass of land, but he promised to make this a priority.
8. On Power:
Obi said the production capacity is 12000kw, but this cannot be effectively transmitted, because the transmission capacity is not beyond 6000 kw. He then promised to increase the transmission infrastructure, by declaring war on the power sector.
9. On flood control:
Obi said it was not impossible to effectively check it, if Egypt had made so much progress in flood control, with much bigger flood potential, the solution, he said, lies in the reappraisal of dredging and channeling solutions, many of which had been articulated in the past, but the funds wasted on corruption.
10. Wealth creation:
Obi described himself as a wealth creator in his private life, and his public record, and he promised to apply the same principle, if elected to the Presidency.
