The vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said that given the general acceptance of his principal, Peter Obi, all over the country, LP would emerge victorious during the February 25 presidential election.

Datti stated that the pendulum was swinging towards Obi’s victory as only the LP candidate stands out as incorruptible among the foremost candidates and who has a clean record after leaving office as governor.

Datti said this on Thursday at the Palace of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, during a courtesy visit.

He said apart from Peter Obi being the most decent and qualified among candidates, 2023 is the turn of Ndigbo and the turn of the Christians to produce the next president of Nigeria.

He said, “Your Majesty, I wish to inform you that we have gone round the records of all the past governors that have ruled various states in Nigeria and we discovered that it is only my principal, Peter Obi that kept a clean record and left money in the government coffers while leaving office which was why the anti-graft agencies have never invited him for any questioning, but other past governors plundered the treasury and left an empty or indebted treasury.

“Apart from Peter Obi having clean records, coming from the required geopolitical zone and from the Christian religious sect, Obi is the appropriate person Nigeria needs now to unite this country and at the same time revive the dwindling nation’s economy.

“On a more serious note, Nigerians should avail themselves of this golden opportunity God has offered them to elect Obi as the next president of Nigeria so that he would use his wealth of experience and qualification to steer this country to the right path or else we leave to suffer from our lifetime mistake in the future.

“All we need is free and fair elections from the umpires, 100 per cent votes from the Ndigbo and the rest will become history,' he added.

The Vice-presidential candidate also criticised the naira redesign, saying it has been poorly implemented so far, adding that it is an indication of a “weakness” of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

“It has been done and it stays and it was poorly implemented and everything about this government and the policy is poorly done including our economy, security as well as the level of corruption. We pray that the election will go well so that as His Majesty said if the election is well done, it can open the space for good governance,” he added.

Responding, Achebe said the traditional rulers in the entire South-East are working hard to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the country and for the electorate to vote according to their conscience, irrespective of whether they were given money or not by overzealous politicians.

Achebe, who is also the chairman of the South-East Council of Traditional Rulers as well as chairman of Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, also briefly read a communiqué the South-East traditional rulers’ council issued after their Wednesday meeting in Enugu.

In the communiqué, Obi of Onitsha said all the traditional rulers in Igbo land have been directed to organise a town hall meeting in their respective communities to sensitise their subjects on the need to shun threats of election boycott or worst still sit-at-home and come out en mass on the election days to cast their votes for any candidate of their choice.

Achebe appealed to INEC to ensure free, fair and transparent elections, while also appealing to law enforcement agencies in the country to ensure adequate protection of the electorate from the menace of political thugs and unknown gunmen. (Courtesy, excluding headline, The PUNCH)

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