Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, says the level of hardship in the country is alarming.
Obi spoke on Wednesday during the national executive committee (NEC) meeting and expanded stakeholders’ summit of the LP held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
The NEC meeting was presided over by Nenadi Usman, a former minister of finance and current chairperson of the party’s caretaker committee.
“The numbers are clear; the indices are clear; people are getting poorer every day. Those that would call me to come and eat and drink with them, now see me and ask to bring something,” Obi said.
“Do not fear anybody. Those who were afraid yesterday didn’t do any better. We must speak out when things are going wrong. Nigeria is collapsing.”
Obi said the LP would fix past errors by ensuring credible and qualified candidates represent the party in the 2027 general election.
“Anyone seeking to contest under our party must be a committed member, not just someone passing through. They must be competent,” he said.
“Let’s do the right thing, let’s go from ward to local government to state, to zone and nationally, everybody is free to contest.
“We will ensure fairness, and we want to build a party that will be fair, just, and a party people can look at and say, ‘this is how this party is.’
“We want to go into the next election knowing fully well that we are offering Nigeria’s the best of people for house of assembly, house of reps, senate, governors, and every form of election.
“We want to correct the mistake we made in the past; we are going to be sure that whoever wants to contest must be a Labour Party member and not on transit.
“It’s going to be a party of ideology and not a party where you just elect people, and they become whatever goes on.
“We must have senators who agree with us, even if we fail, we fail but it’s better to fail doing right than be on the side of wrong. We are going to do that for Nigeria.”
The ex-presidential candidate also clarified rumours about leaving LP, noting he has never told anyone or given any indication of leaving the party.
