The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has urged Nigerians to reject ethnic and other sentimental considerations when choosing their leaders in the 2027 general elections, insisting that competence should guide their votes.
Obi made the appeal on Thursday during an NDC town hall and stakeholders’ meeting at the Citi-Hub Centre in Mile 50, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
The former Anambra State governor cautioned his supporters against backing him solely because he is from the South-East or belongs to the Igbo ethnic group.
“Let nobody divide the South-East. I don’t want the people of Ebonyi to vote for me because I am from the South-East. I don’t want you to vote for me because I am an Igbo person,” he said.
He urged voters to assess candidates based on their qualifications and capacity to lead the country, describing himself as the leading contender for the presidency.
“My dear people, I want you to vote for me because I am qualified to be the President of this country. I want you to vote for me because I am the leading candidate,” Obi added.
The NDC flagbearer also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration, questioning its achievements in the past three years and the use of funds borrowed by the Federal Government.
He challenged Tinubu to visit Abakaliki and explain what his administration had done for the people of Ebonyi State.
“I want President Tinubu to come to Abakaliki to tell the people what he has done in the past three years. I want him to come to Abakaliki to tell you what he used the money he has been borrowing to do for the past three years,” Obi said.
He further questioned Tinubu’s capacity to govern Nigeria, arguing that the President lacked the competence and energy required to manage the country.
“President Tinubu does not have the competence to run Nigeria. He does not have the energy to run Nigeria. He should pack his things, go home and rest,” he said.
Obi also questioned the President’s reported time spent outside the country, arguing that Nigerians deserved answers about the performance of the administration.
Outlining his priorities ahead of the 2027 elections, the NDC candidate promised to focus on national unity, security, education, healthcare, food production and the fight against corruption if elected.
On national unity, he pledged to ensure that appointments reflected the federal character principle and that opportunities were distributed fairly across the country.
“We must unite this country. Our pride should not be consideration of employment, this or that. We will operate federal character for all the jobs we have. So, we must unite the country,” he said.
Addressing Nigeria’s security challenges, Obi promised to declare an emergency in the protection of lives and property, with particular emphasis on tackling kidnappings and protecting schoolchildren.
“We will declare emergency in the security of lives and property in Nigeria. We will deal with insecurity decisively. Nobody will be in charge, we will be in charge,” he stated.
He specifically vowed to take decisive action against criminals who abduct children from schools.
“If I am President of this country, kids come to school and somebody takes them into the bush, we will be in the bush with such person. They will not be there alone, we will be there with those kids,” Obi said.
On corruption, the former governor pledged to ensure that public resources were used for the benefit of Nigerians and that anyone found guilty of stealing public funds would face prosecution, irrespective of their position.
“We will declare emergency in corruption. I will fight corruption like nobody has fought it before. Public money must be used for public good, nobody will steal our money again. If you do it, you will go to jail starting from the President,” he declared.
Obi also promised to prioritise education, citing the number of children who are out of school across Nigeria.
“We will declare emergency in education. We have over 18 million children out of school, we must reduce it,” he said.
His remarks come as political parties and prospective candidates begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections, with governance, insecurity, economic management and national unity expected to feature prominently in the campaigns.
