From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has said that the interactions between his party’s presidential candidate and the public are beginning to ease tensions across the country, adding that Peter Obi’s candidacy is giving hope and uniting Nigerians.
Baba-Ahmed who spoke on Tuesday during an interview on TV said, “There is a lot of hope for a better life, for better security and the single most important factor uniting Nigeria is the candidacy of Peter Obi.”
In order to persuade Nigerians to support the party in the elections of 2023, according to Baba-Ahmed, the party would rely on the track record of its candidates.
According to him, other parties are relying on their financial resources and are “swimming in an ocean of wealth and power.”
He was upbeat about his party winning the upcoming elections and noted that there has been development in “making Nigerians see a change of government in 2023 is about them as opposed to the current administration’s failed promises.”
Defending him and Peter Obi’s political and leadership background he said: “Labour Party candidates, assume I am not the only one speaking, are driven by their records. They are stepping on what they have succeeded in to attempt to lead Nigeria.
“Other candidates, I don’t have to mention their names, are swimming in the ocean of wealth and power and so they want to rule Nigeria.”
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He added that decisions made by individuals and small groups were to blame for the “sad and problematic” status of democracy and that previous elections had not represented the will of the people.
“It is very sad that what you keep hearing about endlessly are the three arms of government in a democratic government.
“One, democracy must not be about individuals or small groups or any group for that matter. It must be about a political entity for it to qualify as democratic. It should be about national and bigger interests.
“Two, the aspirations and the desires and the will of the people must reflect in their election which means we are yet to meet the second philosophical condition of democracy.
“The third one is that, as provided in the constitution, the people must hold power, on whose behalf the elected government exercises authority. What you have now is that government, once elected or they impose themselves, they hold the power and exercise the authority.
“So, condition two is not there and condition three is questionable.”
The vice presidential candidate for the LP stated that, if elected, his principal’s administration will “account for every square meter of Nigeria,” adding that in order to do this, the administration will hire additional security officers with a focus on law enforcement.