Mr. Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023 presidential election says that competence and energy to perform in office is more important than tribe in 2023. He added that nepotism is a higher level of corruption in Nigeria than stealing public money.
Obi said at a Forum organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Lagos that character, competence, ability and commitment to deliver should be the guiding principles for the presidential election next year.
He declared himself ready to provide good governance from day one if given the opportunity to serve the country as president.
“We must get the country to work. Nigeria is not a productive country. That is the result of leadership failure. What we do in this country is sharing. We have revenue sharing formula. We must replace it with production formula. I want to put Nigeria into production which is the foundation for the country to be able to feed herself.”
On the rising debt profile of the country, the LP Presidential Flagbearer said there was really nothing wrong with borrowing but the purpose and management of such borrowing.
“There is nothing wrong with borrowing. Every nation borrows. Every business also borrows. The problem is what you do with the borrowing. We shall borrow for production and we must tell our people the need for the borrowing. A leader must talk to the people. Communication is key. We shall renegotiate the debt if we win the election.”
Obi said the way forward is for the country to maximise generation of revenue by rethinking the annual N6 trillion subsidy regime, which he described as organised crime and then stop the stealing of oil in the creeks.
He promised to actively involve women and youths in his administration if elected.