I ‘must be’ President of Nigeria — Peter Obi

The Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the just concluded 2023 general election in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Obi, has said that he must become the President of Nigeria. He said he is neither in a hurry nor desperate to achieve the mandate but he must get it one day. The Labour Party presidential candidate is in court challenging INEC’s declaration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s President-elect following the February 25 presidential election in the country. Obi stated this during a Public Presentation of the Book, “PETER Obi: MANY VOICE, ONE PERSPECTIVE” held in Awka, on Friday. He said, “Anyone who thinks I am on a transit is wasting his time. Let me tell you, I must be the president of this country. I am sure of that. If it is not today, it must be tomorrow. “Other people who want to be, should come and tell us what they want to do, and how to do it. This is my country, I don’t have dual citizenship. If anyone thinks I am going to run away from Nigeria, they are lying. “I have three engagements in Anambra and Lagos today. I will be speaking in Lagos tonight. We will not leave Nigeria. I am not in a hurry to become the president, but I know it must happen.” Continuing, the former Anambra State Governor explained that his strive to become President to free Nigeria from bad leadership was never for the elite alone. “For three years I was in court in Anambra to reclaim my mandate, just to challenge the process. Many people tried to discourage me, but I said even if the entire four years tenure elapsed for us to prove a point and correct the process, I will be fulfilled. “My argument is that, let’s do what is right. I always tell everyone that I will not give people money to do the wrong thing. I have been the chairman of a committee; TETFUND committee, and Prof. Yakubu Mahmud was my member. We know ourselves, but when he became INEC chairman, I have never met him. I told him, you are an umpire, just do what is right. “If you have the chance to do the right thing, and you insist on perpetuating anarchy, then, it will consume everybody one day. I insist that we must do the right thing. “I was at an event yesterday in Abuja, and it was World Food Organisation. I listened to report that stated that Nigeria will face intense hunger in years to come. It is Nigeria that will face hunger, not Peter Obi. “The report listed Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as the states that will be worse hit, but those three states put together are five times larger in land mass of Israel, yet Egypt exports food, but Nigeria cannot feed itself,” Obi added. Earlier, Lead Editor of the book, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna described the piece as capturing everything about the man, Peter Obi. “We are not saying that Peter Obi is a saint. But he stands out in integrity. Nigeria is richly blessed if this man becomes President”. “Whatever we realize here will be channeled into the on-going litigation. I am hopeful that the litigation will end well; and the truth will come out”. The event attracted traditional rulers, politicians, cabinet members during Obi’s tenure as governor, his friends and admirers, who donated various sums of money in support of the book lunch. READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE