Why 100 million Nigerians live in poverty — Peter Obi

For weeks, there have been talks of a merger between the Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party. However, the merger seems to be stalling as they cannot seem to decide on who would be the presidential flagbearer once the merger is complete.

While the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, wants to run as the president on the merged platform, the presidential candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, also does not want to dump his presidential ambition.

However, over the weekend, Kwankwaso stated categorically that he cannot be a running mate to Peter Obi.

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He further said that the South-East will miss a golden opportunity if Peter Obi refuses to be his running mate. The NNPP candidate also added that the Igbos are at the bottom in Nigerian politics.

Reacting to the remarks by the NNPP candidate, during an interview on Arise TV, Peter Obi noted that Kwankwaso comment is the reason why about 100 million Nigerians live in poverty.

Obi said, “The comment from my respected elder brother, Kwankwaso, is the reason why we have 100 million Nigerians living in poverty. It is the reason why we have 18 million Nigerian children out of school. It is the reason why we have over 55 per cent of Nigerians in under/unemployment ladder. It is the reason why we have all the problems why Nigeria is insecure because rather than vote for competence, we will choose to vote for incompetence based on a primitive consideration of ethnicity and religion.

“Tell me, today you cannot travel from Abuja to Kaduna by air, road or train. Is it because someone from the South-East is in charge? You cannot travel from Abuja to Minna by road; is it because someone from the South-East is in charge?

“Yesterday, we heard of an attack by bandits on the presidential convoy in Katsina. Is it because the person from the South-East is in charge? Show me where you can buy food cheaper, you have uninterrupted electricity, or people are prospering in the North because northerners are in power; in the South-West, because northerners are in power, and the South-East.

“What we have chosen to do in this country is that we have consistently hired vehicle drivers to fly the Nigerian aeroplane instead of hiring qualified pilots. My commitment is for us to campaign and deal with the issues and the problems of the country. There are a lot of problems in this country.”