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•Declares stingy president not bad idea for Nigeria

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has chided his opponents in other political parties, saying Nigeria’s presidency was neither a retirement home nor a place where people wait for turns.

Obi also maintained that there was nothing wrong with Nigeria having a stingy president.

The candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, have at various times described Obi as a stingy man, and that Nigeria does not need a stingy president.

Obi who was in Anambra for a town hall meeting with youths, private meeting with traditional rulers from the state and a political rally held in Onitsha, said he was the right person to fix Nigeria.

Speaking at a meeting with traditional rulers of the state at the Government House in Awka, Obi said: “They said that I am a stingy man, and I say it’s better they didn’t say that I am extravagant or that I embezzled public funds. They only said that I am stingy, and I tell you the job and the presidency of our country needs a stingy person.”

He said: “It is not a turn by turn affair. This is not about turns, but about capacity and if it is about turns, people like us would insist that it is our turn and should be considered.

“The job of a president is not a retirement home, or for any kind of settlement but about uniting and rebuilding the country.

“When you look at me and my running mate, you will discover that we are young, compared with the other candidates who are older.

“When you talk about qualification, I am the most qualified and the youngest among them and this is not a job for rehabilitation of people because Nigeria needs a strong and vibrant person as president, and one that is in tune with the trending and modern style of leadership. So that our country would be counted among the comity of great nations in the world,” he said.

At the town hall meeting with youths in Awka, Obi noted that the issue of industrial action by university lecturers would be tackled under his administration, adding that the revenue from petroleum products, which people are sharing is about the sum lecturers are asking for.

“Why would our universities be on strike? There is no justification for that because people are interested in sharing oil money, and they are not producing anything. Come to think of it, the money that they are stealing is about the amount that can be used to fix our universities and educational system.”

Obi was received at All Saint Cathedral field, where a mammoth crowd of supporters converged to listen to the former governor.

Several political figures, heads of labour unions, market groups, youths, students and women’s groups were also among those who besieged the venue of the rally to show support to the Labour Party candidate.