Peter Obi vows to declare war on power at Chatham House

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Peter Obi vows to declare war on Power
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi speaking at the Chatham House, London

 

We will build inclusive, transparent and compassionate society, we will show compassion, we will show love.  We will lead from the front, we are not going to walkway

 

 

Emmanuel Thomas l Monday, January 16, 2023

 

LONDON – The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi on Monday said he will declare war on power if he is elected president of Nigeria in 2023.

Peter Obi who was speaking at Chatham House, London said that if South Africa with over 40,000 megawatts of electricity could declare emergency in the power sector, how much more Nigeria that generates about 5000 megawatts of electricity.

He said he will not allow anybody to stand in his way to increase power generation not even importers of generating sets.

He said his government will attract foreign investment to Nigeria, stressing that investors are scared of Nigeria for now as a result of corruption, board policies and a dearth of the rule of law. Peter Obi who impressed the audience with his answers said the government he plans to run with his Vice, Datti Ahmed will try as much as possible to create a conducive environment that will attract investment into Nigeria.

He denounced the situation where the Nigerian passport has become an object of ridicule, rejected even by countries that are not up to Nigeria. He  vowed to bring Nigerians and businesses back home and ensure that  people  are proud to use the Nigerian passport.

The Labour candidate said every government  borrows but that what is important is what is done with the money that is borrowed. He said most countries that burrowed money at the same time with Nigeria have gone very far compared to Nigeria  where money is burrowed for consumption.

He said money that would be burrowed under him will be used for investment. “But the problem is that Nigeria has borrowed for consumption”.

Moving forward, he said he will restructure the debts and say no more borrowing for consumption but burrow for investment, adding that it is a question of showing leadership.

He also addressed issues having to do with ethnic tension in Nigeria. As he puts it, “ethnic tension you see today is as result of injustice, unfairness, exclusion and maginalisation. If you start doing the right thing and building an inclusive society, the tension will go down.

“We will build inclusive, transparent and compassionate society, we will show compassion, we will show love.  We will lead from the front, we are not going to walkway”, he said.

Peter Obi who spend his Christmas and New Year with internally displaced persons in Borno and Abuja said “as long as Nigerians are in IDPS,  “we are all in IDPS, I will not allow Nigerians live in IDPs while we sleep in our mansions”, he said.

The Labour Party candidate said under him, government will not compromise.   “There will be no  sacred cows, it will be the same level field for everybody.

“I must pull out the poverty devastating the north. The vast land in the north is an asset for vast investment to shore up revenue for Nigeria”, he said adding that seven local governments in Niger State are currently under bandits.

“ I have tried to interview them, they said they have no  job”, he said, stressing that tackling insecurity remains the first commitment of government lead by the Labour Party.

 

Those children in the north have learned Koran, which means they are intelligent, we will meet them at the point of learning Koran and teach them skills

 

“Securing Nigeria is not impossible. I secured Anambra State as governor. It will be carrot and stick, those who will not change, we will deal with them”.

He said there is need to resonate the spirit of the military that was hitherto used to secure Africa to secure Nigeria.

On  climate change, he attributed flooding in Nigeria to lack of dredging. Alluding to Egypt, popularized with the saying, “No Nile, No Egypt”, Obi said that he will use River Niger and River Benue to do what Egyptians are doing with the Nile. “If Egypt can dredge and maintain it, Nigeria can do it”, he assured.

The Labour Party candidate who said he will maintain independence of the Central Bank of Nigeria  said fiscal rascality is responsible for inflation in Nigeria.  “We have to fix that.  We will ensure that basic education is free. Those children in the north have learned Koran, which means they are intelligent, we will meet them at the point of learning Koran and teach them skills”, he said, adding that he will deploy a model of PPP  in funding education  so that 4 years will be 4 years.

He equally attributed Nigeria’s huge debt  to fiscal rascality and that  “subsidy is  part of it  which we are going to stop from day one.  He said the people stealing Nigeria’s oil are in government because ordinary people cannot steal oil.

“We  will make sure revenue of government are properly accounted for. We will plug loop holes, we will negotiate our debts”, he said, adding  that  while other nations were taking advantage of the Ukraine war to enhance their earnings Nigeria could not  because of poor management of resources.

On his alleged, stinginess,  he said, “at the heart of poverty is capital formation, you cannot deal with poverty without savings.  “Without capital formation, you will have low productivity and you produced poverty everywhere.

“I was the best governor by UNDP. I invested in education and I was able to save because I had proper capital formation and saved for the future.

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come, the time today is to have character and competent leadership, that is what I and Datti Ahmed are offering you. Let’s have opportunity to build a better Nigeria”, he said.

 

 

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