By TINA TIMOTHY

The Professionals 4 Obi-Datti Presidency has given reasons why the Presidential Candidate of Labour Party Peter Obi is their preferred choice of an ideal Nigerian President come 2023.

Two officials of the group, the Convener, Dr. Ben Chukwu and Deputy Leader (North)/Spokesperson, Lautong Ngaring, during a television interview, ARISE NEWS PRIME TIME, on Thursday, October 27, 2022, discussed extensively their reasons for coming together as professionals from various fields of endeavor all over the world to unanimously decide that Obi’s impeccable character, competence, integrity and

profile qualifies him as the best candidate, adding “everybody is interested in making things better that is the reason why professionals felt they have to throw their weight behind his Excellency Peter Obi.”

According to Dr. Chukwu, “I am the convener of that group and have been a surgeon and there are many other professionals from different fields, we have Engineers, we have ICT Experts, we have Cyber Security Experts, we have Nurses, we have Lawyers, we have Pharmacist, so we are talking about Nigerian professionals or professionals of Nigerian

origin where ever they reside in the world.

“Actually, our real name is Professionals For Good Governance and Social Justice; but because we have seen Peter Obi, we have seen he has the Character, going back to the question you asked earlier he has the Character and the most important aspect of that character is the fact that he has Integrity and that is one thing that attracted someone like me to say no, whatever I can do to make sure that I gather all the professionals who are hither to perceive in their support for him to make them active, gather them wherever they are and I have a chain of friends from different fields; we decided to gather them together because he has character, competence; he is also committed.

“You could see his actions, going everywhere. I will tell you something very briefly, I made up my mind to support Peter Obi and to gather all professionals to support him because of my personal understanding, knowledge of him, not what I read in the social media like most people. I am somebody who goes to the grassroots, you say I’m in Saudi Arabia, I am free, I’m a senior doctor; I am free to move around.

“So, when I come into Nigeria which – I do frequently – I interview people. I entered an airport taxi when I landed at one of the airports and the man was carrying me. I asked him a simple question: I hope you are obedient? You know what he told me? Even if Obi is losing or failing, Obi is a good man, I must vote for him. I said why did you say so? You know what he told me, you will be shocked. He said that ‘Obi, after he was a Governor, he flew one day through the airport and came in, walked into their room, into the airport taxis kiosk, you know that office outside the airport very ragged place and entered there and sat down with them and started discussing. They were shocked that someone who was a governor can come in here and sit with them and he was discussing and finding out their problems. By the time he left there, he gave them two N2 million to start car loan for their members that do not have cars so that they can have a living.’

“I did the same thing in Lagos airport. I joined a taxi. I asked him the same question, you know what he told me? He said: ‘well, none of them will help me.’ I said why will you say so? Just tell me you are supporting so-so candidate because you are from this part of the … I forgot to tell you the man I referred to earlier I asked him where are you from? He said he is from Akwa Ibom state. So this other person I met you, know what he told me?

“He said that he ‘will never support that candidate I’m thinking about, that that candidate destroyed him, destroyed his business, destroyed his family.’ I said what do you mean? He said he came from Bulgaria to invest in Nigeria to start his business and he bought seven new vehicles, that this same man I’m talking about, his agberos, his LASTMA, his thugs, destroyed all the seven vehicles, seven buses; that he doesn’t have one now, that he has destroyed his life and destroyed his means of livelihood, that he can never support… that the man destroyed Lagos and they are saying he built Lagos, that he destroyed Lagos and he destroyed him that he will never…; in fact, he said all of them that are taxi drivers, that none of them will support him.

“So what I’m trying to say… number three thing I’ll tell you that is shocking, I am in contact with one of the siblings of Peter Obi and one day, I called

the brother and said what are we going to do so that this thing will work? You know what he told me, Peter is on his own ooh but we have forgiven him. Listen to what I’m trying to say: we have forgiven him, we will do whatever we can, let us…. I said what do you mean? He said do you know that Peter was Governor for eight years and he never gave me a single contract, his own blood brother and he came with contract papers, and he said young man go and do your business have you been a contractor? Nobody from his village, none of his relations and nobody from his town. These are subtle things and personal interactions that made me say no, this man is peculiar and when I hear him speak, I know he has Integrity. I love, I have a flair for integrity and the reason is because even right from school, I formed a body which we call Daniel generation and that is a body that seeks to build leaders with Integrity, impeccable character of integrity, to create leaders for the nation and for God, let me put it that way.

“Number two thing I want to say I believe in justice, see all the people talking if you know any of them who says he’s Godly, whether Christian or Muslim, ask him do you believe that God is a God of Justice?”

On his part, Ngaring, a Digital Forensic Expert, has this to say: “What informs that support is that when people present themselves for election, you look at the profile of the people before you decide on what to do. That is actually what informed professionals as to who is the best candidate that can do the work of a president. Everybody is interested in making things better, that is the reason why professionals felt they have to throw their weight behind his Excellency Peter Obi.”

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