The presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have traded words ahead of the coming general elections.
Obi took a swipe at Tinubu’s ’Emi Lokan’ comment during his party’s retreat in Abuja, stating that it’s nobody’s turn to be president.
He said, “We will do this retreat now, after the election we will do another one, the election next year will not be based on ethnicity, we have had it before, it would not be on religion.
“There is no place that Christians buy things cheaper, there is no place that Muslims buy things cheaper. It will not be by turn, it is nobody’s turn. It must not be by connection.
“The election next year must be based on character and trust, it must be based on competence.
“If a leader is not stealing, and the family around him are not stealing we will reduce corruption by 70 per cent. I was Governor for eight years, there is nowhere money is missing.
“I am in this retreat to listen, let us put it in writing when we succeed, you must be around to say this is what we have agreed on. Even if we don’t achieve 100 per cent, we must have made sacrifices.”
On his part, Tinubu slammed Obi’s recent comment that he was not healthy and fit to be president come 2023.
In a statement issued by the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu stated that Obi was not his doctor to determine his fitness.
The statement read, “Since he is not Asiwaju’s doctor and is not privy to his medical record, Obi has again disgracefully elevated what has for long been a beer parlor gossip and social media lie being propagated by his IPOB supporters.
“Obi in his characteristic manner is amplifying falsehood which should not have a place in decent political campaign.
“We believe that political leaders should be guided in their utterances and be sticklers for the truth, but Obi has thrown all caution to the wind, pronouncing on issues he has no moral and professional competence to make a judgement call on.
“We want to make it crystal clear to all the traducers of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate that Asiwaju Tinubu is not ill. He is hale and hearty. A man who works for 20 hours a day, meeting people and strategising about finding solutions to Nigeria’s problems, cannot be said to be ill. We make bold to say that our candidate is as fit as the fiddle.
“We also want to educate Peter Obi and his horde of gullible followers that Tinubu’s millions of supporters countrywide are backing him not because of any pecuniary benefit. Asiwaju Tinubu supporters are rooting for him because of their strong belief in his demonstrable ability to provide progressive leadership for our country.
“They are supporting him because they believe in his capacity as a transformative leader, who once made a historic mark in Lagos State and is capable of replicating same in Nigeria.
“On this score alone, Tinubu is unmatched in the field by even the perennial presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. He is certainly not in the same league with the rabble rousing Peter Obi by all leadership parameters.”.
