Obidients, the supporters of the Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, shut down Onitsha, Anambra State, Tuesday, January 10, 2023, during an LP Presidential Campaign Rally at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.
Obiโs running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, while addressing the rally, said the LP government will hit the ground running on day and stop the killings across the country, while beginning the healing process.
โThe very day weโre inaugurated, weโll stop killing and start healing. Recently, bandits released their abductees simply because they identified themselves as Obidients,โ Datti told the mammoth crowd that attended the rally.
Datti, who did not, however, disclose when the incident happened and the identity of the beneficiaries, told the crowd that he decided to work with Obi because of his belief in justice, equality and fairness.
He asked Nigerians to hold them responsible if they fail to deliver on their promises, insisting that the February 25 election was as good as won.
Datti said: โThe joy and fun Iโm having here has made me forget the cost of foodstuffs in the market, and forget theyโre stealing our money.
โAPC is being deceived by your money in their pockets, and PDP who forgets easily is being deceived by the small money in their pockets they want to spend. This election is as good as won.
โPeter Obi is a shining star who will move the country from consumption to production. With Obi and I under the Obidient movement, noting will stop us from rescuing Nigeria.โ
In his own speech, Obi said that the difference between him and Datti and other presidential tickets is obvious: โIf you have not created wealth, you canโt manage it,โ he said, adding:
โDatti and I are businessmen. The only way Nigeria can change is to hand it over to wealth creators.
โThe more you employ people, youโll pull them out of poverty. Iโll fight poverty and out of school children in Nigeria. All parts of Nigeria will celebrate me.
โThe work of a leader is not to complain but to find solutions. Weโre not going to remind you of your past, but build your future. Weโll use factor endowment, taking advantage of oil in South South, groundnut in North.
โWeโll ensure police wonโt harass you again. Weโll recruit more officers and train them to know how to relate with the public.โ
Obi called on Nigerians to choose between thieves and stingy people in the 2023 general elections.
โThey say Iโm stingy. Between those who stole and those who saved them, who do you prefer? If our previous leaders were stingy, we wouldnโt have been where we are today,โ he added.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, promised to increase international airports in the country to six and also pledged to end flooding in Nigeria by dredging both rivers Niger and Benue.
According to him, his team is coming to end suffering and build a new Nigeria, regretting that nobody is safe in the country.
While noting that many families are begging to eat, Obi added: โWeโll secure and unite Nigeria. What I did in Anambra, Iโll do in Nigeria. Weโll negotiate, but whoever that refuses, weโll tell him thereโs government.
โAnambra is a trading and manufacturing city; weโll support all businesses in the state. Weโll do same in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Borno. Every part of Nigeria will be productive.
โWeโll open roads. Any tarred road in Onitsha was tarred by me. I built the best road network in Nigeria. Those who left Nigeria will come back; weโll face exportation to stabilize and reverse naira if we assume power.โ
On his part, the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, said people of the state were lucky to have their son as the partyโs flag-bearer for the 2023 election.
He said: โOrdinarily, we wouldnโt have come to Anambra because we would have taken it for granted that youโre all Obidient. But because of bad eggs weโre here. In every society, you have both forces of light and darkness, but the former will always outshine the later.
โOnitsha has always produced great leaders and another one is about to happen. Any opportunity lost canโt be regained. We must give Obi 99.9%.
โIf thereโs any person that will say itโs my turn, itโs Obi. Anambra people are very lucky. Weโre not saying you should vote for us because itโs our turn, but because we have competent and capable candidates.โ
In his speech, the State Chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Umeh, described Obi as tested and trusted adding that he would not disappoint.
โWe appeal to Nigerians to give them opportunity to serve them; we will not be disappointed after their tenure. We tested him as Governor and are sure he wonโt disappoint us.โ
Wife of the LP flag-bearer, Mrs Margaret Obi, on her part, enjoined eligible voters to go for their Permanent Voters Cards, saying: โIt is your only weapon to vote out bad leaders.
โYouโve shown that we have people and youโre behind us. In LP, we have the best team Nigeria can get. A new Nigeria is about to be born. We women have the worth to birth it. With 75% of us, weโll give Obi 100%.โ
She also assured that election would hold in Southeast and would be peaceful.
Former gubernatorial candidate in Anambra, Valentine Ozigbo, said that Anambraโs 2.7 million votes would be given to Obi because heโs the best governor in Anambra and will be the best president.