PETER OBI AND THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The Labour Party candidate is one step away from victory, reckons Valentine Ozigbo

This week, Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), showed his electoral strength with visits to Delta, Anambra, and Enugu States, where he held hugely successful campaign rallies.

By now, Peter Obi has solidified his reputation as an ethical candidate who has rejected the politics of corruption, inducement, and crowd-buying. By doing so, he has set himself apart from his main rivals. The crowds at the Labour Party rallies in Delta, Anambra, and Enugu were genuine passionate believers in Obi’s candidacy and the Obidient Movement. Obi is the candidate they trust and have decided to entrust Nigeria to prudent hands.

At the Anambra rally, the surging, enthusiastic crowd sent a message to the politicians of the old order. Mr Peter Obi is our beloved former governor who served our state with credibility and compassion. As governor of Anambra State, he won all available international awards and recognition for his investment in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social safety programmes. He received high marks from the United Nations, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and countless other organisations. We know his quality, and we are confident he will make us proud as our President.

The debate is now settled. Peter Obi’s campaign is the fastest growing, most technologically advanced, grassroots movement on the content. All the polls carried out by professional statistics and data-gathering companies, NOI/ANAP Polls, We2gether, Nextier, Bloomberg, and others, prove that Peter Obi is Nigeria’s most loved, most preferred, and most qualified candidate. We are leading with the youth; we are leading women; we are leading with men; we are leading in urban and rural areas. Peter Obi dominates the space on social media, which has emerged as the second most important messaging platform. As a frontrunner, we can expect our rivals to express their frustrations with more ad hominin campaigns.

While they go low, we are raising the bar. This week, our campaign launched the revolutionary Obidient Townhall APP, which connects all Obidients at polling units and wards. Since formally launching the APP last Sunday, 32,360 people have signed up, and we have covered all 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, 585 Local Government Areas (75%), 3,997 wards (45%), and 17,144 polling units (9.6%). Obidients are still signing up in record numbers and organising our community in a way that will prevent an electoral heist.

None of their attacks can stick. Peter Obi track record for performance and integrity in business and as an elected official is well documented. Every day, Nigerians have seen in Peter Obi the hope for a New Nigeria where everyone is valued, every child is worth investing in, and every dream is realisable. His message of hope and renewal resonates across the country and transcends tribe, religion, and the other factors that have, historically, divided us.

None of their plots to steal the election will work, either. We have gone ahead of their schemes. A people determined to take back their country are just too powerful for the traditional electoral criminals. No matter what games they come up with on election day, the people are ready to reject the status quo and entrench purposeful leadership.

These are what the lovers of Nigeria need to do. Keep telling our fellow citizens about the good news of a New Nigeria. Keep educating our people on the importance of the upcoming election. This election will not be about tribe, religion, region, ‘my turn’, slander, or any other factor that has brought Nigeria to the brink of disintegration or bankruptcy. In February, we are going out to vote for Peter Obi as President and Datti Baba-Ahmed as Vice President, the most upstanding, outstanding, and accomplished presidential ticket. The leaders, we can believe him.

A win for Peter Obi and the Labour Party is a victory for Nigerians. It means we would be set to take our place of pride in the global community. It means we would have rescued and secured the future of the next generation of Nigerians. Above all, we would have sent a strong message that we reject the politics of division, greed, corruption and all their promoters. In its place, we usher in a new era of peace and shared prosperity for all Nigerians.

Remind our family and friends that we are voting for the Labour Party whose logo is a father, mother, and child – papa, mama, and pikin – LP. Continue volunteering, supporting, donating, and contributing to the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign. Sign-up and download the Obidient Townhall APP at obidatti.support. Use the Townhall APP to connect with other Obidients in your locality. Go to INEC offices and get your permanent voters card (PVC) and be ready to vote.

2023 is the year of Nigerians. It is the year of the youth. It is the year of the people to take back their country from the forces of darkness that have held us back from shining brightly. We are awake, we are ready, and we are taking our Nigeria back.

Ozigbo is the Special Adviser on Technology and Strategic Alliances to Mr Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party