Obi: Govs Must Work to Save Nigeria, Avert Looming Anarchy

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has said governors have crucial roles to play in the ongoing movement to save Nigeria and avert the possibility of anarchy in 2023.
He stated this at Mater Dei Cathedral Umuahia, where he was a guest at the prayer meeting organised by the Catholic Action Group, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Abia State and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in conjunction with the Alex Otti Foundation.

Obi, who has been going round the states to meet governors, explained that he undertook the mission of visiting the governors in order to make them understand the  need to subsume their personal interests and political affiliations and join hands to save Nigeria.
“I am meeting all the governors to tell them a simple thing: If you don’t do the right thing, there will be anarchy and everybody will be consumed, whether you’re a governor or not. We must fix this country,” he said.

The LP presidential hopeful, whose visit attracted a huge crowd of supporters to Mater Dei, lamented that a vast majority of Nigerians had continued to wallow in poverty and deprivation despite the abundant resources in the country.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to verify the presidential candidates being paraded by the various political parties to determine their capacity to fix the ailing Nigerian nation.
According to him, by verifying the backgrounds, history and intentions of the presidential candidates, the Nigerian voters would be able to make the right choice in 2023.

“Go and verify is the fundamental thing in this (2023) election,” he said, adding: “We must fix this country now”.
The former Anambra governor, had paid a courtesy visit to the governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, at his country home in Umuobiakwa Obingwa Local Government, before coming to Mater Dei Cathedral in the capital city.
Obi said political office holders should stop indulging in opulence and make good use of public funds to improve the welfare of the people instead of looting the public treasury and subjecting the masses to untold hardships.

“We must stop abusing the grace of God in this country and use public money for the people,” he said, adding that it amounted to sheer wickedness for people already blessed to keep dipping their hands into public treasury.
In his address, Mr. Alex Otti, who is the governorship candidate of Labour Party in Abia State, said the tand time had come for Nigerians to take concrete action and “take back and rebuild” the nation.
He said in Peter Obi, Nigerians have renewed their hope for a better tomorrow, adding that, the LP presidential stndard bearer believed and practices frugality, which is what is needed to get the country back on its feet.

“If we want to fix this country we must cut down the cost of governance,” he said.
Earlier the Administrator of Umuahia Diocese, Most Rev Michael Kalu Ukpong, in his remarks explained that the prayer meeting was aimed at asking God to intervene in the affairs of Nigeria and to encourage the people to play their own role in the ongoing movement to rescue the nation.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Abia State chapter, has hit hard on Governor Ikpeazu for presiding over the collapse of state institutions inherited by his administration, saying “Abia has continued to degenerate under an incompetent government”.

Chairman of Abia APGA, Rev Augustine Ehiemere, voiced the anger and frustration of his party over the deplorable state of affairs in Abia following the loss of accreditation of the Abia State Polytechnic (Abiapoly) and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) all in Aba.

In a statement made available to the media in Umuahia, Ehiemere noted that it was worrisome that the affected institutions were shut down by federal regulatory bodies due to non-payment of staff salaries running into 30 months.
“These developments become even more intriguing to human understanding, when weighed against the fact that even PDP governments in other states of the federation that took office at the same time or even later than the PDP government in Abia, have initiated and completed gigantic multi-billion naira Institutions,” he said.

Citing neighbouring Ebonyi State, where the government “has initiated and completed one of the best medical schools in Nigeria,” the APGA chairman regretted that on the contrary, existing institutions were crumbling in Abia.

“Enough is enough. APGA is calling on the PDP governor of Abia State to show some decency by resigning honourably and apologising to Abia for the misrule and directionless his government has foisted on the people.

“APGA calls on the Abia masses to take advantage of the 2023 election which is a few months away and ensure that Abia State is rescued from the stranglehold of the PDP,” he said.