The Labour Party presidential candidate within the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, on Wednesday denied being obsessed about replacing President Bola Tinubu as the next president.
Obi got here under fire just a few days in the past after he faulted the Federal Government’s timing and prioritisation of the Lagos-Calabar coastal freeway project.
The LP presidential candidate suggested the federal government to focus on fixing bad roads across Nigeria as a substitute of striving to construct a white elephant project like the main coastal road.
However some critics trolled him on social media, saying he doesn’t see something good in what the current administration does due to his desperation to turn out to be the president in 2027
Few additionally questioned whether or not the previous Anambra governor has the imaginative and prescient and capability to vary issues if he eventually turns into president.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Obi expressed his disappointment, stressing that some individuals typically shy away from discussing urgent points plaguing the nation.
He stated, “We dwell in a system the place public officeholders and politicians are solely seen throughout elections. I can let you know that it’s an on a regular basis job. I’ve stated it a number of instances that I’m not determined to turn out to be the president of Nigeria. However I’m determined to see the poor and fewer privileged Nigerians being pulled out of their difficult situation daily.
“That’s what I’m determined to see. And all of us can do it as effectively. You possibly can’t even be blissful or fulfilled when a number of million (Nigerians) don’t know the place the following meal will come from. After I see children suffering, it will increase my ache. This isn’t about marketing campaign.”
Obi additionally disclosed that if he had been to turn out to be president, he would do issues in a different way by specializing in repairing current roads versus approving contracts for brand new ones.
Whereas analyzing how deplorable some main highways, comparable to Lagos-Badagry and Kano-Kaduna, have turn out to be, the politician insisted that these tasks must be the precedence of any severe authorities.
“If I had been to be the president of Nigeria right this moment, no one would consider any new street till we end the present ones. On this nation, we’re at all times making an attempt to do issues anyhow. As we speak, you possibly can’t transfer from Lagos to Badagry, a short interval of fewer than 100 kilometres. It has been below construction for a number of years. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has additionally not been completed for a number of years.
“The identical factor applies to the Kano-Kaduna, Kano-Maiduguri and Sokoto-Funtua. I may even present you the state of all of the roads from Kaduna to Abuja. In Kaduna bypass alone, you possibly can queue for hours. You possibly can’t even drive comfortably from Abuja to Okene to Auchi and Benin. It’s nearly inconceivable.
“These are roads that exist already and have been in dire want of repairs for years. That’s the place we have to put our assets and cope with it. We have already got a network of roads that want fixing. Why are people introducing issues when the present ones are in bad shape?
“After I was governor of Anambra State, I began by finishing the roads began by my predecessor earlier than pondering of doing new ones. For me, that is the vital space that wants consideration and that’s the place I’ll focus,” he said.
