Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has called for a radical shift in Nigeria’s political landscape, stressing the need to build strong political institutions that are bigger than individuals or the government.
Obi made the statement during the public presentation of two books – “The Bubbles of Nigeria’s Democracy: The Musings of a Nigerian Journalist” and “Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist,” written by veteran journalist Ike Abonyi.
In his remarks, Obi emphasised that the goal of building a “new Nigeria” must include creating political parties that are well-structured, enduring, and independent of those in government.
“We are working hard to build that new Nigeria where we are going to have political parties that will outlive us, that are organised, that will be bigger than the government,” Obi said.
He lamented that the current political environment is one where politicians in power often undermine the very institutions that brought them to office.
“As it is narrated here, we now have a situation where those of us who are opportune to be in government have helped to ruin the parties,” he noted.
Obi urged political stakeholders and especially journalists with deep insight into the Nigerian political space to write more, not only to document history, but also to help citizens understand the intricacies of democratic governance.
“I thank those who are writing, and let us remain committed to building that new Nigeria,” he said. “Let’s hope that one day, we will have parties that are bigger than the government, that will run the way parties are run in other nations of the world and will be law-abiding.”
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