- Demands free and fair elections in Kogi, Bayelsa
Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has said that only a revolution will save Nigeria and launch her into the league of countries towing the paths of development. Obi made the submission while speaking at Baze University, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The former Anambra State Governor, who spoke on the theme, “The Role of Young Nigerians in the Development of Sub-Saharan Africa”, said that young Nigerians must be made to understand that nations that are doing well today went through revolution and that, that is what Nigeria needs to drive development within sub-Saharan Africa.
Explaining the nature of the revolution he is advocating, Obi said it was “not the old type of revolution understood in terms of guns and cudgels, but the type of revolution that sees digital camera displacing manual ones; electric cars threatening to displace fuel-driven cars; knowledge economy displacing baggage economy; industries displacing manual production, among others.”
Obi advised the youth to remain committed to positive ideals. He reminded them that one of the problems of Nigeria is the celebration of impunity, whereby Nigerians clap and dance with those destroying the country because of their ability to part with stolen money.
In another development, Obi has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, as well as other security agencies and organisations that are directly or remotely involved in the conduct of election to see the elections holding tomorrow (Saturday) in Kogi and Bayelsa states as opportunities to redeem the battered image of Nigeria as a country incapable of conducting free and fair elections.
He gave the advice yesterday during the 7th-anniversary lecture of News Express at held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
Recalling the gains Nigeria recorded from the conduct of elections during the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan Administration, Obi said that it restored the hope of Nigerians on elections as a means of freely expressing their franchise as against what he called the “return to kangaroo elections marred by violence and all that was vile” as recorded during the last election.
He insisted that free and fair conduct of Saturday’s elections would restore hope to the country, adding: “Besides, it would also encourage well-meaning Nigerians to join in the future elections.”
Concluding, Obi, who was the Guest Speaker at the event, said: “As has become the norm in many countries, the issue of electoral malpractice is becoming a thing of the past. As the giant of Africa, Nigeria ought to be showing an example to other African countries by encouraging free and fair election and allowing candidates with the highest vote cast to emerge, winners.”