Huge crowd welcomes Obi to Onitsha

A huge crowd of Labour Party (LP) members yesterday welcomed former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi, who is the presidential candidate of the party, to Onitsha, Anambra State.

Obi returned to the commercial city to campaign for support during the February 25 poll.

He told the crowd that his administration would create wealth and secure the country, if elected.

The one-time governor said the Aso Villa in Abuja should not be a retirement home for those he called “tired politicians”.

Speaking at the All Saints Cathedral field during his party’s presidential campaign kick-off, Obi said combination he and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed enjoy stood him should above other contenders.

He described himself and his running mate as wealth creators with capacity to manage the nation’s resources well.

Obi said: “All we’re coming to do is to end suffering and build a new Nigeria. In Nigeria today, nobody is safe; families are begging to eat. We will secure and unite Nigeria.

“What I did in Anambra, I will do across Nigeria. We will negotiate. But whoever that refuses, we will tell him there’s a government.

“Onitsha is a trading and manufacturing city. We will support all businesses in the state. We will do same in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Borno. Every part of Nigeria will be productive.

“We will open roads. Any tarred road in Onitsha was tarred by me; I built the best road network in Nigeria. Those who left Nigeria will come back. We will face exportation to stabilise and reverse naira, if we assume power.

“The difference between us and others: there’s no combination. If you’ve not created wealth, you can’t manage it. Datti and I are businessmen. The only way Nigeria can change is to hand it over to wealth creators.

“What we will do will surprise everybody. They say I’m stingy. Between those who stole and those who saved them, who do you prefer? If our previous leaders were stingy, we wouldn’t have been where we are today.

“The more you employ people, the more you will pull them out of poverty. I will fight poverty and out-of-school children in Nigeria. All parts of Nigeria will celebrate me.

“The work of a leader is not to complain but to find solutions. We’re not going to remind you of your past but build your future. We will use factor endowment, taking advantage of oil in the Southsouth, groundnut in North, among others.”

The LP candidate also promised to increase international airports in the country to six, promising to end flooding by dredging Rivers Niger and Benue.

“We will ensure police won’t harass you again. We will recruit more educated officers and train them to know how to relate with the public,” he said.

Datti-Ahmed said his decision to join Obi on the LP ticket was borne out of the former governor’s belief in justice, equality and fairness.

 He urged Nigerians to hold them responsible if they fail in their promises, insisting that the February 25 election was good as won.

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