2027: Tinubu lacks energy to govern, Obi says

…Urges South-East to shun ethnic politics

By Jeff Agbodo, Abakaliki

ABAKALIKI — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has questioned President Bola Tinubu’s competence and energy to govern Nigeria, urging him to leave office and rest.

Obi spoke at an NDC town hall and stakeholders’ meeting held at the Citi-Hub Centre, Mile 50, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, where he urged Nigerians to unite behind candidates based on their qualifications and capacity to deliver good governance rather than ethnic considerations.

He cautioned the South-East against division, insisting that voters in Ebonyi and other parts of the country should support him based on his credentials, not because he is Igbo.

“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.

“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,” he said.

The former Anambra State governor challenged Tinubu to explain his administration’s record over the past three years, particularly the use of funds borrowed by the Federal Government.

“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 also questioned the President’s reported time spent outside Nigeria, arguing that he should be able to travel across the country to account for his administration’s performance.

“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,” Obi said.

Outlining his proposed priorities if elected president in 2027, Obi said his administration would declare emergencies in key sectors, including national unity, security, education, healthcare, corruption and food production.

On national unity, he said his government would seek to reduce ethnic divisions and ensure that appointments reflected the federal character principle.

“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.

On security, Obi promised decisive action against insecurity and pledged to equip security agencies to protect lives and property.

“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 said.

He specifically promised stronger action against kidnappers targeting schoolchildren, saying his administration would ensure that security agencies pursued those responsible and protected vulnerable communities.

“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,” he said.

On corruption, the NDC candidate pledged to ensure that public funds were used for public benefit and that offenders faced prosecution, regardless 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,” Obi said.

He also promised to prioritise education, citing the large number of Nigerian children out of school and pledging to reduce the figure.

“We will declare emergency in education. We have over 18 million children out of school, we must reduce it,” he said.

On food security, Obi said his administration would support farmers to return to their farms, increase agricultural production and boost exports.

“We have vast lands, our farmers must go back to farm, be able to cultivate, give us what we eat and be able to export,” he said.

He further pledged to strengthen healthcare delivery by ensuring that every political ward in the country had access to functional healthcare facilities.

“We will declare emergency in health. We must have a functional healthcare in all the political ward of Nigeria. Every ward must have it, we have the resources to do it,” he said.