#AriseTVPresidential Townhall Series: We are Not Out to Harvest Votes from PDP, Says Obi

*Says poverty in Noth unacceptable 

*Insists on removal of fuel subsidy

*Alleges people in government involved in oil theft 

By Emameh Gabriel in Abuja 

Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Sunday dismissed speculations that he planned to leverage the OBIdient movement to harvest votes from his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This is just as he said the level of poverty in the north was unacceptable giving the amount of arable lands for agriculture in the region.

He also said intelligence processing failure among security agencies in the country waa responsible for the spate of insecurity in the country.

Obi who made the assertions Sunday at the Arise TV Presidential Town Hall Series on Security and Economy held at Transcop Hilton, Abuja, said he would remove fuel subsidy if he elected president next year. 

While responding to questions on security, economy and his intentions to leverage on the ongoing wave led by Nigerian youths, he said: “We are not taking votes from the PDP. We are contesting to win for Labour Party in this election and to win and serve Nigerians. We are taking votes away from the traditional parties who have structures of incompetence, structure of bad leadership, structure of illegality, and looting of Nigeria and bringing us to a level where we become a failed state. So we are saying to Nigerians”, he said.

While responding to questions on how he planned to combat insecurity, the Labour Party presidential candidate expressed disappointment over the level of poverty in the country, especially in the northern Nigeria where he said leaders in the region have failed to leverage on the huge amount of arable lands in the region to create employments.

He said: “Today in Nigeria, you have 35 per cent unemployment with our youth. With your youths who are in productive age, you have 60 per cent youth unemployed. You can’t have that, and won’t have crisis. That’s where the guns are domiciled. So you replace that with job, you replace it with employment, you invest in your micro small businesses where these youths are domiciled by supporting them, pulling them out of poverty. 

“The whole of Nigeria, in terms of physical assets, is those uncultivated lands in the north. You can’t have that huge land and we have the level of poverty that we are experiencing in the north. Niger State has eight or seven local governments that are occupied by bandits. It is unacceptable.