- Peter Obi visits, commiserates governor, victims
By Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Former Vice President of Nigeria and the 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has come under fire for failing to reach out and offer condolences to the government, victims, and people of Oyo State, following a devastating explosion.
The explosion occurred at Dejo Oyelese Street, near Old Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija Estate, Ibadan, on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. The blast left more than five persons dead, 77 persons injured, and scores of houses partially or completely damaged.
The swipe was taken against Atiku by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, when he hosted a former governor of Anambra State and 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, who was in Ibadan on Monday to commiserate with Makinde, the victims and people of the state over the explosion.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, had led delegation of Federal Government to Ibadan over the explosion. This followed a call made by President Bola Tinubu, who is a member of All Progresives Congress (APC), to Governor Makinde, a member of PDP, over the incident. Many serving and former governors, as well as other notable personalities in the country have also reached put to Makinde over the incident. The report on the incident has also been presented by Makinde to Tinubu on the blast.
Obi expressed his condolences to the victims and families affected by the Ibadan explosion, praying for comfort during their time of grief. He commended Governor Makinde for his swift response to the situation.
“It is necessary that when things like what happened here in Ibadan happens, and government responds in a manner government should respond, that everybody come to participate and commend them for doing the right thing and that we all do the right thing.” Obi said
Makinde, in his response, thanked Obi for his visit and for prioritising the wellbeing of the citizens over political gain. He commended Obi’s willingness to offer support, unlike his own party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar.
He noted that there were three major presidential candidates in the 2023 elections. He added that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) have both reached out to commiserate with him and the people of Oyo state, except Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
“I should use this opportunity on behalf of the good people of Oyo state to thank His Excellency, Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state and also the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election.
“I thank you because politics didn’t sip into this; you came to commiserate with us over the explosion. Actually, investigation is still going on, it was simply illegal miners storing explosives in an environment where they shouldn’t be, a place meant for people to live, it’s not a mining site.
“So, all the lapses that allowed such to happen are being looked into. I’m particularly grateful because the president called me, we have three musketeers that went for that election.
”The president has reached out to me, you have reached out to me, but my own party candidate, not even a call or text message, I’m saying this openly so that our leaders would know that, yeah, you have time for politics, you have time for governance, and you have time for humanity,. So, we want to say thank you so much. We appreciate this visit.”
Answering questions from journalists after the visit, Peter Obi told the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu that high cost of governance is unacceptable, arguing that high cost of governance has limited the capacity of the government to prioritise critical areas such as education, health and pulling people out of poverty.
According to him, “It’s a matter of sacrifice, elections are over, governance is the key thing and what is required is for me in particular is that we need to cut the cost of governance especially at the federal level.
“It is unacceptable, we need to prioritise critical areas, such as education, health and pulling people out of poverty.”
Obi, who was accompanied by Aisha Yesufu had earlier visited the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture IITA headquarters in Ibadan to learn about the research activities and food security impact ongoing across Africa.