Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr. Peter Obi has said he is labeled stingy because of his fiscal discipline in the management of public funds.
Obi, who describes such labelling as false, said those who lose out in the process of blocking financial waste in the system see it as being stingy.
The presidential candidate, who was a special guest at the Human Rights Radio in Abuja popularly called Berekete Radio, recounted examples of his frugal use of public funds, pointing out that corrupt people fight back when you block them by tagging you stingy.
According to him, saving money is not in the constitution of Nigeria “but my Presidency will change our sharing mentality to saving and production mentality.”
On corruption, Obi said if elected into office, he noted that as much as looters won’t be allowed to go free, he would face the future because he would not want to close shop while pursuing thieves.
He described nepotism as huge corruption, especially when leaders pick unqualified persons who may be of the same family as they are and allocate land and contract to them.
Obi disagreed with the notion that he would change after he assumes office, noting instead that money and power expose who a person really is.
The candidate said that the North is the new Nigeria gold and oil but requires only a person who knows like him and his Vice to unlock it.
“The poverty in the country can only be tackled through production and it’s only through its crimes and criminalities can be reduced. Those bandits are factory workers who are doing nothing.”
On his position on the agitation for Biafra, Obi declared that the Biafran War ended 52 years ago, stressing, “I am a Nigerian and running for President as a Nigerian.”
He added, “If the President is to be given by whose turn it is, as an Igbo it’s my turn but I am in the race as a Nigerian wishing to be hired based on my track record, competence and capacity.”
He regretted that Nigerian leaders have not shown enough compassion on the people and their plights in neglecting the people they govern.
“They are annoying God by turning grace into entitlement.”
He added that democracy makes the ordinary people, the poor and disadvantaged, as the owners of the country.
He said the ordinary people have a critical role to play in the selection process of who governs this country. He said they can only do that through the use of their Permanent Voters Card (PVC).
