Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, has spoken about the challenges he faces daily being an opposition figure in Nigeria, disclosing that he has made personal sacrifices as a result.
Speaking during a media chat on Thursday in Abuja, Obi said;
“Oppositions here are actually difficult. If I tell you what I face, what I go through, what my family goes through, you wouldn’t even believe I should still be standing and going around this country,” Obi said.
“It is difficult to be in opposition in this country, extremely difficult because everything is against you. People don’t even want to see you. They don’t even want to talk to you.”
“I see colleagues, I greet them at the airport, they don’t even want to reply because they don’t want the government of the day to see them greeting you. Your businesses, everything you’re involved in is being dismantled,” he lamented
“I’ve made up my mind that if this is the end, so be it. We need to show more commitment to the future of our country. None of us is going to live here forever. Everybody who means well should come together to get the country to work,” he urged.
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2027 election, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, says there is no merger deal yet with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) or any other party.
Obi disclosed this when he spoke at a press conference he had in Abuja on Thursday morning, January 2. According to the former Anambra state governor, no agreement has been established with other parties. He rallied all lovers of Nigeria in the political space to come together in 2027 and defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC), which he accused of mismanaging the country’s resources.
Obi also described the security situation in the country as unfortunate, saying Nigerians die needlessly due to banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping-for-ransom.
He said the level of corruption in Nigeria remained high and so is the cost of governance which has led to an astronomical increase in public debt under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu of the APC.
Obi stated that government officials willfully mismanaged public funds in 2024 through incessant foreign travels.
In the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
Atiku, who has run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while Obi, a first-time contestant, secured an unprecedented 6,101,533.
