From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Vice Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, yesterday, visited Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, and marshalled reasons to convince him that his principal, Peter Obi, will emerge victorious during the February 25 presidential election.
He said the pendulum is swinging towards Obi because among his opponents from the two foremost rival political parties, Obi stands out as the only incorruptible candidate with a clean record during his political career, while others were found to have committed political blunders at one time or the other throughout their political careers.
Addressing Achebe and members of Agbalanze Royal Cabinet during the courtesy visit, Datti said apart from Obi being the most decent and qualified among his fellow contestants, 2023 is the turn of Ndigbo and turn of the Christians to produce the next president.
“I wish to inform you that we have gone round the records of all the past governors that have ruled various states in Nigeria and we discovered it is only my principal, Obi, that kept a clean record and left money in the government coffers while leaving office which was why the anti-graft agencies have never invited him for any questioning but other past governors plundered the treasury and left an empty or indebted treasuries.
“Moreover apart from Obi having clean records, coming from the required geopolitical zone and from the Christian religious sect, he is the appropriate person Nigeria needs now to unite this country and at the same time revive the dwindling nation’s economy.
“On a more serious note, Nigerians should avail themselves of this golden opportunity God has offered them to elect Obi as the next president of Nigeria so that he would use his wealth of experience and qualification to steer this country to the right path or else we leave to suffer from our lifetime mistake in the future,” he said.
He commended the monarch for his decency, dignity and leadership qualities which is known all over the country.
Responding, Achebe who welcomed Datti to his Ime Obi Ancient Palace, assured him that traditional rulers in the entire Igbo land are working hard to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the country and for the electorate to vote according to their conscience, irrespective of whether they were given money or not by overzealous politicians.
Achebe, who is the chairman of Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, also briefly read a communiqué the South East traditional rulers council issued after their Wednesday meeting in Enugu.
In the communiqué, Obi of Onitsha said all the traditional rulers in Igbo land have been directed to organise a town hall meeting in their respective communities to sensitise their subjects on the need to shun threats of election boycott or worst still, sit-at-home and come out en masse on the election days to cast their votes for any candidate of their choice.
Achebe appealed to INEC to ensure free, fair and transparent elections. He also appealed to law enforcement agencies in the country to ensure adequate protection of the electorate from the menace of political thugs and gunmen.