ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Labour Party (LP), has vowed to end sit-at-home order in the South-East region and other forms of agitation if its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, wins the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking in a telephone interview with The Punch on Thursday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi stressed that Obi represented a pan-Nigerian outlook on national issues.
According to him, Obi’s integrity, level of engagement, and sense of equity and justice would contribute to dousing various tensions and agitations if he emerged the president next year.
Arabambi noted also, that the revitalisation of the “moribund” economy would make the sit-at-home in the South-East “die a natural death”.
He said: “At the moment, Peter Obi doesn’t have any executive power until he is elected to the position of President. He is also not a Governor.
“Our presidential candidate is a pan-Nigerian candidate; he is not representing Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa. He is representing the entirety of Nigerians irrespective of religion or tribe. He is from Anambra State, but he is also from Nigeria. He wants to run Nigeria, not as a sectional president.
“We don’t play ethnic politics like the one Atiku is playing. Once Mr Obi becomes President of Nigeria, the country will normalise. The reason why you have all these agitations and sit-at-home is because the economy has somersaulted.
“The administration of President (Muhammadu) Buhari has traumatised the citizens. Nigerians are hungry and that is why they are angry. So, when you see a man who is able to put smiles on their faces, the agitations will die a natural death.”
Arabambi while linking the agitations to a leadership problem, explained that Nigerians did not trust President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“Nigerians do not trust this administration, and that is the truth. Here is an administration that has pushed the country into huge debt.
“Looking at the finance of the country and their debt servicing regime, it is clear that 100 per cent return of revenue is going into debt servicing. That means we are not making any money this year. How do you expect the citizens to trust them when it is clear that they don’t care about their citizens,” he said.
Reacting, the Media Adviser to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Paul Ibe described his principal as a pan-Nigerian, who was interested in forming a government of national unity to dispel the ethnic anger in the country.
Reacting to the claim that Atiku was playing ethnic politics, Ibe said: “I want whoever it was that said this (that Atiku is playing ethnic politics) is ignorant of what was said at Arewa House, including the context and the trajectory, the person of Atiku Abubakar.
“The truth of the matter is that of all the political leaders who are aspiring to lead this country, all of them combined, none of them can match the credentials of Atiku Abubakar as it concerns his ‘Nigerianness’, his commitment to Nigeria, the sacrifices he has made in advancing democracy, and his values. He is an individual that sees neither East nor West; North nor South.”
Speaking on the sit-at-home situation in the South-East, he said: “Well it is unfortunate what is going on in the South-East and it is a reflection of where we are as a country.