A group of kidnapped persons reportedly regained their freedom from bandits who abducted them, after they were identified as Obidients – a sobriquet for supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi.
Obi’s running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, disclosed this yesterday, Tuesday, 10 December 2023, while addressing an LP Presidential Campaign Rally held at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State.
“The very day we’re inaugurated, we’ll stop killing and start healing. Recently, bandits released their abductees simply because they identified themselves as Obidients,” Datto told the mammoth crowd that attended the rally. He did not, however, disclose when the incident happened and the identity of the beneficiaries.
Datti told the crowd that he decided to work with Obi because he believes in justice, equality and fairness.
He asked Nigerians to hold them responsible if they fail to deliver on their promises, insisting that the 25 February election was as good as won.
Datti said: “The joy and fun I’m having here has made me forget the cost of foodstuffs in the market, and forget they’re stealing our money.
“APC is being deceived by your money in their pockets, and the PDP, which forgets easily, is being deceived by the small money in their pockets they want to spend. This election is as good as won.
“Peter Obi is a shining star who will move the country from consumption to production. With Obi and I under the Obidient movement, nothing will stop us from rescuing Nigeria.”
In his speech, Obi said that the difference between him and Datti and other presidential tickets is obvious: “If you have not created wealth, you can’t manage it,” he said, adding: “Datti and I are businessmen. The only way Nigeria can change is to hand it over to wealth creators.
“The more you employ people, you’ll pull them out of poverty. I’ll fight poverty and out-of-school children in Nigeria. All parts of Nigeria will celebrate me.
“The work of a leader is not to complain but to find solutions. We’re not going to remind you of your past, but build your future. We’ll use factor endowment, taking advantage of oil in the South-South, and groundnut in the North.
“We’ll ensure police won’t harass you again. We’ll recruit more officers and train them to know how to relate with the public.”
Obi called on Nigerians to choose between thieves and stingy people in the 2023 general elections.
“They say I’m stingy. Between those who stole and those who saved them, who do you prefer? If our previous leaders were stingy, we wouldn’t have been where we are today,” he added.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, promised to increase the number of international airports in the country to six and also pledged to end flooding in Nigeria by dredging both rivers Niger and Benue.
According to him, his team is coming to end suffering and build a new Nigeria, regretting that nobody is safe in the country.
While noting that many families are begging to eat, Obi added: “We’ll secure and unite Nigeria. What I did in Anambra, I’ll do in Nigeria. We’ll negotiate, but whoever refuses, we’ll tell him there’s a government.
“Anambra is a trading and manufacturing city; we’ll support all businesses in the state. We’ll do the same in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Borno. Every part of Nigeria will be productive.
“We’ll open roads. Any tarred road in Onitsha was tarred by me. I built the best road network in Nigeria. Those who left Nigeria will come back; we’ll face exportation to stabilize and reverse the naira when we assume power.”
On his part, the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, said people of the state were lucky to have their son as the party’s flag-bearer for the 2023 election.
He said: “Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have come to Anambra because we would have taken it for granted that you’re all Obidient. But because of bad eggs, we’re here. In every society, you have both forces of light and darkness, but the former will always outshine the latter.
“Onitsha has always produced great leaders and another one is about to happen. Any opportunity lost can’t be regained. We must give Obi 99.9%.
“If there’s any person that will say it’s my turn, it’s Obi. Anambra people are very lucky. We’re not saying you should vote for us because it’s our turn, but because we have competent candidates.”
In his speech, the state Chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Umeh, described Obi as tested and trusted adding that he would not disappoint.
“We appeal to Nigerians to allow them to serve them; we will not be disappointed after their tenure. We tested him as g governor and are sure he won’t disappoint us.”
Wife of the LP presidential flag-bearer, Mrs. Margaret Obi, on her part, enjoined eligible voters to go for their Permanent Voters Cards, saying: “It is your only weapon to vote out bad leaders.
“You’ve shown that we have people and you’re behind us. In LP, we have the best team Nigeria can get. A new Nigeria is about to be born. We, women, have the worth to birth it. With 75% of us, we’ll give Obi 100%.”
She also assured that the election would be held in the South-East and would be peaceful.
Former gubernatorial candidate in Anambra State, Valentine Ozigbo, said that Anambra’s 2.7 million votes would be given to Obi because he’s the best governor in Anambra and will be the best president.
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News Express Nigeria