Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, said he could change Nigeria’s situation in four years.
Obi also assured his supporters that he would be on the ballot in the 2027 presidential election. He stated this while speaking to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
The former Anambra State governor expressed confidence in his competence and capacity to lead the country.
“I am contesting and I will be on the ballot. People will have to look at who is competing, who has the capacity, who has everything,” Obi said.
“I think I am qualified; I can do the job. I will say repeatedly that, in four years, I can change the trajectory of Nigeria to a positive one.”
Obi ran for the presidency on the Labour Party platform in 2023 but is now part of the opposition coalition that has adopted the African Democratic Party (ADC) as its platform, leaving many to speculate about his next move for 2027.
However, Obi has maintained that he remains a member of the Labour Party and is committed to working with other opposition leaders in the coalition to rescue Nigeria from bad leadership.
Asked about his speculated return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said, “All of us are going to come together as a people. I believe that for us to do the right thing for the country, all well-meaning Nigerians must come together now to rescue the country.”
Obi lamented that political discussions have taken precedence over the well-being of poor Nigerians.
He wondered why the plight of the 139 million people living in poverty is not the focus of national discourse, rather than politics.
Obi frowned at the recent defections by some political actors, criticising the trend under the current administration.
“We are not in a military time when you capture people,” he said in reaction to the recent defection of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah and his Bayelsa counterpart, Douye Diri, to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Obi described Governor Mbah as his good friend: “I believe that as governor, he must have decided based on his own political views and calculations.”
The former Anambra State Governor, Obi, also dismissed claims that the South-East could be “captured” politically.
He, however, insisted that leadership in a democracy is about persuasion, not coercion.
