The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General Elections, Mr Peter Obi has said the only reason he would agree for coalition is when Nigeria’s best interest is considered.
Obi stated this while fielding questions from Journalists at the National Conference On Strengthening Democracy In Nigeria, in Abuja on Monday.
TheFact Daily gathered that they’ve been talks on merging opposition political parties to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2027 elections.
He said, “for me, what is important is that they discuss Nigeria, whether there’s going to be coalition or not, let’s talk about the future of the country.
“Often, we abandon the country and what we need to do, for me I am not interested in any coalition that is for purpose of taking power. It is about discussing Nigeria, how do we care about securing Nigeria, how do we care about our children being in school ? That is the most important thing for now”.
He emphasized that all hands must be on deck to get the country working as democracy in Nigeria was a far cry from what it should be.
“We must all get involved to make it work, we know that it is not working in Nigeria”, he said.
On the issue of monetisation of politics, Mr Obi replied, “that is what we need to remove because what you are doing is that you are encouraging stealing of public money because if I can steal it and use it for election, then I get all the power including immunity, so we must stop it, that is what is driving the stealing”.
The Former Anambra State Governor disclosed that the biggest take away from the conference was that democracy was about the will of the people.
“It is about serving the people and that is most critical. It is now time for us to take action, because you see where it has brought us to, we now live in an insecure country, we now live in a country that is everyday breeding poverty”, he lamented.
Obi continued, “on the day of celebration of the international Day of education, I visited 15 schools where children don’t have a lab talk less of one computer, that is what we have turned democracy into and we must deal with it headlong”.
Aligning with experts’ opinion, Obi faulted the operation of political parties in the country, “it is very clear what have been said that we don’t have members, we have ‘others’. The core of democracy should start with the political parties, where people respect and know that the other people exist. It is not the place where you are stacking proceeds for your own benefit”, he said.
