A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday in Abuja, said he was not desperate to become the next president. Instead, he was desperate for a better Nigeria.
This was as he called on Nigerians to shift their attention from wealth sharers to wealth creators and to interrogate their favourite presidential candidates.
Obi said this when he returned filled copies of his expression of interest and nomination forms to the PDP secretariat in Abuja ahead of the April 8 deadline for the submission/sale of forms.
The former Anambra State governor said, “Our country is now going through a difficult time. I am not desperate to be a president; I am desperate to see a better Nigeria.
“We need to move the country from consumption to production. There is nothing to share again, and we now need wealth creators and not wealth sharers. We have been sharing wealth for a long time; we need to start creating wealth.
“I am coming from that background, basically as a trader who has created wealth in the private space and in government space. We now need to shut down the cost of governance and everything.”
Obi, who visited Wadata Plaza in the company of Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, tasked Nigerians to note the track records of the 13 aspirants who are currently in the race for the PDP presidential ticket.
“So go and look at the trajectory of where people are coming from and check all the places I have been given responsibility, including being a governor. You saw what I did in Anambra State; you saw what I saved.
“I know what to do in putting money into micro, small and medium scale enterprises. Otherwise, how could a small state like Anambra end up on the day I was handing over not owing salary, pension; no contractor who has executed his job raised certificate or supplied us goods were being owed.
“I saved N77bn which was over $500m at that time in the bank. I know what we can effectively do to turn around the situation. You have to check my trajectory as a person, look at all the people that are contesting and view my background. You will probably see that I am the only person who has a very unique background,” he said.
Speaking on the zoning, Obi, who was the PDP’s Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2019 election, noted that the party leadership would ultimately decide how the next presidential candidate emerges.
He said “Well, it is the party. They have the final say. Whatever they say, everybody accepts. I will respect whatever decision they take.”
The PUNCH
