The heat is on. The presidential election is only a few days away. All the presidential candidates, particularly the top gladiators, are already sweating it out this very moment. They are all working hard to perfect their strategies and make last minute attempts to see how they can out-wit and outsmart their opponents. The APC presidential candidate, Asiwau Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been the busiest of the lot. He has traversed the length and breadth of the country, covered more grounds and held more rallies than any of the other top contenders. Yet, he still has to deal with the backlash of the effect of the CBN new naira policy introduced by the ruling government and try to see how he and the APC will ensure it does not create disenchantment and hatred for the ruling party by the electorate.
For Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, few days to the election, he still has a PDP in shambles to reunite, reorganise and prepare for the presidential election. The distraction and disunity caused by the aggrieved G-5 group has remained a major setback for the party. Many did not expect that this protracted battle between Atiku and his former prominent members would drag for this long. But several months down the line, and with a few days to the election, the problem is still there, sticking out like a terrible sore thumb.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party can be said to have enjoyed a lot of noise and attention but largely on the social media. With the Obidient movement consisting majorly of the youths, Obi has constantly remained in the news, but a lot of times for the wrong reasons. It is either some of his frivolous claims and statistics are being punctured and verified to be inaccurate or outrightly false, or his supporters are being accussed, as they often are, of being toxic, unruly, hateful, abusive and capable of making statements that may incite open physical confrontation by the various supporters.
It is also noteworthy to say that he has held very few rallies in only very few states in the country. With a few days to go before the election, it is highly unlikely that he will have time to cover a few more states before crunch time of February 25th. And he still has a few question marks hanging over his head as well. There have been several pertinent questions thrown up at different fora by various opposition groups and even individuals who do not belong to any political party but are merely keen participants of the political process. And they have repeatedly insisted that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, must respond to these very serious questions if he wants to really convince majority of Nigerians that he is the best man for the job.
One question that has kept recurring in the Peter Obi discussion has been the question of his relationship with people who worked with him in his government during his time as Governor of Anambra State. Many have wondered why we have not seen those who worked closely with Obi standing by him and speaking out for him at any of his political rallies or campaigns. Where are his former commissioners? Where are his Special Advisers? Where are members of the Anambra state House of Assembly at the time Obi was governor of the state? How come we have not seen one or two of them standing by him? Why is he no longer close with his then deputy governor? None of these people have been seen anywhere near Peter Obi and what this indicates, according to a political analyst who was speaking on national television, is that he is probably a bad manager of people. And that’s not a quality somebody who wants to rule and unite the country should have.
There is also the question of where Peter Obi’s allegiance lies with IPOB. Is he with IPOB? Does he share and believe in the agitations and aspirations of IPOB? Does he subscribe to the demand for a Biafra nation? And the recklessness of the IPOB group, gruesome killings of innocent lives, the sit-at-home- order imposed on the people in the state when they should be outside of their homes working and hustling to earn a living for themselves, does he approve of all these? Many have pointedly asked Peter Obi, on which side of the divide are you? But he has remained quiet and elusive on the question. The position of many is that you cannot claim to have the capacity to lead and unite a country like Nigeria when your own state, Anambra, is under fire. It is on record that the issue of kidnapping and killings in the state began during his tenure. And he has not once condemned any of the IPOB killings.
Accordiing to a former PDP Chairman of Anambra State, Chief Dan Ulasi, he recalled ruefully that “while Peter Obi was governor of Anambra state, what was rife in Anambra was kidnapping, killing, armed robbery. None of our big shots came home. But all through the first four years of Willie Obiano, there was peace and tranquility.” He told Channels presenters that when he buried his father during Peter Obi’s tenure, each one of his prominent guests came down for the funeral with nothing less than 20 military officers as security escorts. The chief explained that prominent Anambra indigenes fled the state. They refused to come home even for the busrial of their aged parents for fear of being kdnapped or killed. He asserted that Obiano took the security issues seriously and was able to deal with them until the IPOB monster of Nnamdi Kanu reared its ugly head afterwards.
One controversy that has raged on for years even after Peter Obi finished his tenure as governor of Anambra state has been the issue of the exact amount former governor Peter Obi left in the coffers of the state at the time of his exit. According to Chief Dan Ulasi, “he figure touted by Obi was N75 billion but the Willie Obiano government made it clear that it was actually a paltry N9 billion that Obi left. This revelation angered many Anambra indigenes who felt insulted by Peter Obi’s antics. Unknown to the public, the former governor, Obi, had given out postdated cheques to contractors the state was indebted to. Almost N70 billion was paid out in debts. Peter Obi could not convincingly explain to anyone how N75billion became N9 billion. And Willie Obiano himself corroborated this story during the governorship debate preceeding Obiano’s sercond term. The debate was anchored by Channels Television Seun Okinbaloye. Now, many have been asking the Labour Party presidential candidate to debunk the claims made by his successor and former friend, Willie Obiano, that he left a paltry N7billion naoira in the coffers of the state and not 75 billion, that the rest of the money was paid to contractors Peter Obi was indebted to and to whom he had already issued postdated cheques. The Labour Party’s presidential candidate is yet to give a satisfactory answer to this question and this has raised serious question marks as regards the integrity of the man called Peter Obi.
Another big question Peter Obi has continued to evade is the question of whether it is indeed true that he demanded for money from his successor, Willie Obiano. This story had been making the rounds for a very long time even after Obi left office. But during the aforementioned governorship election in which Willie Obiano was interviewed by Channels television Seun Okinbaloye, Obiano confirmed that indeed, he had such issue with Peter Obi. He explained that Obi had come to him after he (Obiano) had won the election and said there were some monies paid into the state’s account by his friends that were meant for his own second term campaign. Obniano admitted on national television that he actually paid some money to Peter Obi but had to stop when he could no longer meet up with his demands. Chief Dan Ulasi also confirmed this on Channels when he said: “the main reason why Peter Obi fought tooth and nail to bring down Willie Obiano’s government was because Peter Obi was claiming he had N7billion in the state’s account which was money donated to him by people for his second term. Reluctantly, the former governor Obiano was paying that money but when Peter Obi became over bearing, he stopped paying and that was where the conflict between the two gentlemen started. Not a few Anambra indigenes still hold this against Peter Obi to this day. They felt that for a man who was preaching integrity all over the place, stifling his successor and demanding refund of state funds from him was to say the least unthinkable.” To this very moment, a few days to the presidential election, Peter Obi is yet to respond if it is indeed true or not that he demanded state funds from his successor.
Many have also asked, why is it that the Igbo elites are not coming out to throw their weight behind Peter Obi? Where are the rich and prominent sons of Anambra, how come they are not supporting Peter Obi? Instead, what we have seen is that some of them have openly pitched tents against him and made it clear that he is not their choice. Ordinarily, many expected that being the frontline Igbo presidential candidte he would naturally enjoy maximum support across his state and other south eastern parts, but this has not been the case. According to City People findings, one of the reasons why the elites are not excited about his presidential aspirations is because of his dismal performance while he was governor of Anambra state. The general notion is that he did not meet the expectations of the people. Another reason the elites are not so excited about a Peter Obi presidency is that, according to Dan Ulasi, “Peter Obi split Anambra State religiously. We used to be a homogenous Christian State, now you talk about whether you’re a Catholic, or Anglican or a Pentecostal. That is where we are degenerating now and it’s unfortunate. And he, Peter Obi, started that politics.” Indeed, according to Ulasi, Peter Obi had disliked a governorship candidate from the party at the time he was concluding his tenure based on his religious inclination.
Again, apart from Dan Ulasi’s revelations on Channels television, many Anambra elites who were based in the state at the time the Labour Party presidential candidate was governor will not forget in a hurry the 13 months doctors strike in Anambra that reportedly led to the death of many patients in the state. Why did he allow the strike to go on for so long? What did he achieve at the end of the day with the strike? There was also the 6 months of Anambra State University strike. Many of the elites in the state have still not forgiven Obi for making their children stay home for over 6 months over a strike that could’ve been averted. The issue of seven years unpaid salaries of State Water Board workers was a most painful one. Over 260 of the workers were reported to have died during that period as a result of the trauma, hunger and poor health they had to endure. Did he offer the late civil servants families any form of compensation? What sort of support did he give them? Questions, questions and more questions.
One very big question mark still hanging over Peter Obi’s head is that of the Pandora papers. Peter Obi is yet to respond to the Pandora papers allegation made against him by UK authorities. The Pandora papers is put together by a foreign organisation with the objective to expose corrupt public officials who have stolen public funds and moved them to the UK to set up buinesses. Peter Obi was said to have opened secret businesses abroad in his kids’ names while he was governor of Anambra state. He has never quite been able to explain why or how his name popped up in the Pandora papers in the first place. And this was even before he became a presidential aspirant.
Peter Obi should please answer this question: why did he not conduct a local government election in eight years that he was governor of Anambra state? What did he do with the local government allocation that was meant for the local government councils in all the eight years he was in charge? Where did the money go to? Many still find it incredibly shocking that during Obi’s tenure as governor, for 7 years there was no local government election in the state and there was no substantial IGR growth as well. He also recorded very little in terms of infrastructure. All of these are criticisms and allegations leveled against him by many of his kinsmen, especially the elites who insist he has questions to answer as regards his conduct and poor performance in office while he was governor of Anambra State.
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
