By Chinelo Obogo
Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi has said if elected in 2023, his government would overhaul the country’s security architecture and revive trust between government and the people to set a new economic order.
He spoke at the 2023 Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Private Sector Economic Forum on the 2023 presidential election, yesterday, in Lagos.
He said any candidate that took over in 2023 would be confronted by daunting challenges, both domestic and external, which have degenerated over the years due to leadership failure.
These challenges, Obi said, had impacted negatively on the country’s unity, social cohesion, trust in government, wealth, education, employment, health, commerce and other indices.
The LP presidential flagbearer said the country was not bereft of good ideas and plans, but that institutional weakness and lack of political will to implement them had limited it’s economic potential.
Obi said aside overhauling the entire security architecture, his government would ensure multilevel policing at federal, state and community levels, and equip them properly with modern gadgets to free the economy from the woes of insecurity.
He said upon becoming president, his government would streamline governance to ensure that it was responsive, transparent and effective, ensure institutional reforms and engender inclusive, participation of all groups.
The former Anambra State governor said the country must hold his government accountable in terms of visible, measurable changes on security, manufacturing for exports, and the use and adherence to the rule of law to consolidate Nigeria’s democracy.
Obi stressed that to address the country’s revenue and other economic crisis, his administration would invest in manufacturing to move the country from consumption to production and exportation.
He said apart from tackling insecurity, the issue of power generation must be addressed head-on by liberalising transmission and supporting the existing power generating companies.
“To address power, first thing is to provide funding access, tax incentives and address issue of embedded power and renewable energy. I am not saying that I am going to be a superman but I am going to bring the political will to follow the rule of law, to deal with issues of oil theft, and address leakages in government revenue to address the funding of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).”
Obi also hit out at the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, for claiming that he could not fix insecurity in Anambra while he was governor.
Oshiomohole, had at a recent APC event, falsely claimed that Obi was the governor of Anambra State when Bakassi boys emerged, and couldn’t handle the security challenge posed by the group.
Obi, however, faulted Oshiomhole saying: “The Bakassi boys were long gone before I came into office and that shows a lack of knowledge on his part of the issues.”
Also, after the video of Oshiomohole’s statement surfaced, Obi’s supporters were quick to fact-check the APC chieftain, reminding him that contrary to his claims, the Bakassi Boys emerged in the late 1999, a period of high incidences of security in the commercial cities of the South East such as Onitsha, Aba, Owerri and Enugu, among others. And that this happened during the administration of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
Media office of Peter Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign also dismissed the claim as baseless saying: “…Oshiohmole but for mischief would also have found that Obi is on record to have been one of the most ruthless state governors in tackling the kidnap menace in the country. It’s still green in everybody’s memory how Obi personally supervised the sealing off and demolition of hotels and buildings used by kidnappers and other criminal gangs in the state. Crime record in Anambra State under Obi was outstanding and security leadership never failed to appreciate this feat.”
LCCI President, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, said the overshadowing effect of politics over economics made the chamber set up the event as its contribution to a new economic order that could take the Nigerian economy from the doldrums.