Presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has attacked President Bola Tinubu over his governance track record, accusing the president of spending over 260 days outside Nigeria since he took over office but claims he cannot spare 36 days to campaign across the states of the nation.
Obi stated this yesterday during a political meeting in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, Channels TV reports.
He was replying to recent comments by President Tinubu who said that he may not campaign in all 36 states ahead of the 2027 general elections because of the demands of government.
Obi said he was the front runner for the 2027 presidency, noting that the president does not have the physical energy and administrative skills to run the country and should step away.
“President Tinubu has been out of the country for over 260 days, yet he cannot spend up to 36 days going round the country to tell the people what he has been doing for the past three years,” the former Anambra governor stated.
“Heaven knows he is not competent to run Nigeria; he is not energetic to run Nigeria. He’d better pack his stuff, go home and get some rest.
He challenged the president to go straight to the electorate, asking Tinubu to come over to Ebonyi State and give an account of his leadership.
“I want President Tinubu to come to Abakaliki to tell the people what he has done in the last three years.
“I want him to come to Abakaliki and tell you what they have been using the money they have been borrowing to do, and tell Nigerians what they have been using their money for.
Reacting to political unity, Obi warned against the disintegration of the South East along regional lines, stressing that his candidature was based on talent and aptitude and not ethnic identification.
No one should split the South East. “I do not want the people of Ebonyi to vote for me based on the fact that I am from the South East or that I am Igbo,” Obi said.
“My dear people, I want you to vote for me because I am qualified to be the president of this country and because I am the leading candidate.
If elected, Obi said he will proclaim a national state of emergency in seven crucial sectors including security, hunger, education, healthcare, corruption, power and national unity.
“We’ve got to unite this country. We should not be proud of our ethnic background.
“We will run the Federal Character principle transparently for all public offices. No section of Nigeria will be left out,” he said.
“We shall declare an emergency on security of lives and property and deal decisively with insecurity. “We will not leave the children alone. If they are in school and somebody kidnaps them into the bush, we will equip our security agencies to defend our people.
“I will fight corruption like no one before has done. Nobody will steal our money again. Public money should be used for public purposes. “If you steal money from the public you will go to prison, starting from the President.
“We have over 18 million children out of school and we need to bring that number down significantly. “We have vast arable land, we must ensure that our farmers return safely to their farms to grow food for local consumption and export.
“We will provide functional healthcare in all political wards in Nigeria. ‘We have the resources we need to do this.’”
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