From Emmanuel Uzor, Awka
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, citing breach of court judgments in his continued incarceration.
Obi who made this call while addressing newsmen in his residence in Onitsha, Anambra State, yesterday, described Nigeria as an almost failed state.
He, therefore, advised the Federal Government to immediately release Kanu as sign of obedience to court judgments earlier delivered.
“My take on Nnamdi Kanu is that I don’t see any reason for his continued detention, especially as the courts have granted him bail. Government must obey the court, rule of law is an intricate asset that we must cherish and live with. I use this same opportunity to plead with the Federal Government to ensure that all those who are in similar conditions are released and discussed with. We are in a democracy and we should not be doing things that are arbitrary and not within the law.
“I want to use this opportunity to say that all those who are being held because of one protest or the other should be released. Whether it is freedom fighters, EndSARS protesters, or even because of freedom of speech, be it journalists, let them all be released immediately.
“We are a democratic country and people have rights under the constitution to express themselves freely, they also have rights to peaceful protest and we must listen to them. We must listen to those who say they are not happy, that is why it is a democracy. We should stop acting dictatorially and behave as if this is not a democratic country,” he said.
He lamented that the country was heading towards a failed state following various issues bedeviling it, especially issues of insecurity and failure of government to tackle hardship.
His words: “The primary work of government is security of lives and property. It is the foundation on which people can live in any nation because no one can stay in an insecure place. It is worrisome what is happening in Nigeria with the news of killings, abductions and others, which have made Nigeria one of the most insecure place on the surface of the earth. In fact, it is leading to a failed nation.
“This requires urgent attention of everybody. I thank the Federal Government for their efforts, but there is need to do more, and all leaders must come together to join hands and fight this. In the Southeast, there is need for the governors of Southeast to come together to be able to tackle it. I’m saying this from the experience I had when we were there.”
Obi, speaking about what is happening in Kenya, said that he was against riot of any kind, adding that it would lead to chaos and may lead to destruction of lives and property.
He said: “I’m against riot or destruction of government assets and property, because it is still scarce resources that we are going to use to repair them, but I’m not against peaceful protests. But it must be for a reason and not personal interest of some people to satisfy a particular interest. It must be properly articulated and properly directed. I recall when people said they were protesting police brutality and I said to them no, let’s rather deal with the leadership.
“If we have good leaders, their agents can’t be bad. The problem is leadership. If the leaders are competent, have the capacity and are doing the right things, their agents will follow their examples.”
The Labour Party presidential candidate disclosed that he would be more focused on the welfare of suffering Nigerians instead of dwelling on the issue of formation of a mega party ahead of 2027 general election.
“I will rather say that I’m more particular on how the poor Nigerian can feed. I will rather talk about things that are affecting Nigerians today. We politicians are preoccupied by election, and that is not what I’m after. I’m talking about how do we reduce the price of food? Our people are dying of hunger, how do we make life more conducive for the poor Nigerians, how do we make our people to earn more money, how do we pull people out of poverty. That should be our concern, and not forming a mega party.
“But if forming mega party is to be able to provide all these things I have illustrated, then I’m all for it. But if it is for state capture, so that you can take power and continue with the consumption that we see today, I will say no. But if it is to move it to production, then I say yes,” he explained.
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