From Victor Osula, Abuja
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has stated that he is not interested in forming any coalition solely for seizing power.
Obi spoke on Monday in Abuja, amid ongoing discussions by opposition political parties about forming a formidable coalition against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 General election.
Speaking with newsmen at the sideline of a two-day National Conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria, the former Anambra governor expressed surprise at why politicians abandoned the country to collapse in desperation to grab political power.
Stressing that democracy has completely collapsed in the country, Obi said what should be paramount to politicians is eradicating poverty, fixing public schools, hospitals and the security of lives and property.
He said, “For me, what is important is about the country. We must talk about the future of Nigeria. We abandoned the country, and all we talk about now is power grabbing.
“I am not interested in any coalition for the purpose of taking power. It is about discussing Nigeria, how we care about securing Nigeria, care about the common people in the country, and their education. That is the most important thing in Nigeria for now.
“The conversation has been on for a long time. It is now time for us to take action because you can see where it brought us. We now live in an insecure country. We now live in a country that is breeding poverty every day. People are suffering. So many people don’t know where their next meal will come from.
“How do we care about the common person in Nigeria? “How do we care about our children being in school? That is the most important thing for now.
“We have seen that whatever happens in democracy affects the citizens. It affects their daily living and the future of their children. So, we must all now get involved to make it work because we know that it’s not working in Nigeria.”
Obi also called for concerted efforts to stop financial inducement in politics.
“That is what we need to remove because what you are doing is encouraging the stealing of public money. If I steal it and use it to win an election, then I get all the power and everything, including immunity not to be prosecuted. So we must stop it. That is what is driving the stealing”, he concluded.
