Against the backdrop of insinuations in some quarters about their ambition in the 2023 presidential election, former Anambra state governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, has declared that none of the aspirants from the south east geo-political zone is gunning for a vice presidential slot.
Obi who was the PDP vice presidential candidate in 2019 election, made the clarification in a Channels Television, public affairs programme, Politics Today, on Sunday, April 10, 2022. He emphasised that the target of the south east presidential aspirants and indeed the region, is to clinch the presidential ticket of the party. “Nobody enters a competition for a second position. We are in the race to win”, he said.
Other aspirants from the zone that have indicated their interest for the presidency on the PDP platform apart from Obi, are former senate president, Pius Anyim, accomplished industrialist, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa and Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, US-based consultant physician.
He emphasised that he and his colleagues from the south east are not against a consensus candidate for the office, stressing however that such consideration should be based on equity, fairness and respect for the constituting units of the country.
The former governor threw more light on the meeting by the four south east presidential aspirants on Saturday, April 9, stating that the parley was driven by their desire to work together for the interest of the region and commitment to build a better Nigeria.
At the meeting, the contestants demanded that the Party’s presidential ticket for 2023 should be zoned to their area. They also agreed to work together as a team and ensure that a South Easterner emerges as PDP flag bearer. Obi remarked that they had not reached the stage of picking a consensus candidate among them.
He stressed the need for consultation in picking the PDP flag bearer, recalling that the south east had always supported other zones in producing candidates in the past and now expects them to reciprocate the gesture to the region. He added that the apex Igbo socio-political organisation is in agreement with the principle of equity, fairness to be employed in conceding the PDP presidential ticket to the south east.
Obi identified leadership failure as the biggest challenging accounting for Nigeria’s underdevelopment. He said: “What we are seeing is cumulative effect of leadership failure; leadership failure over the years”. As a way out, he argued that what Nigerians need is leadership that can galvanise the country, deal with issues of security, education and economy. He listed the closure of the universities due to industrial action by the teachers and the political class neglecting the situation, as an indication of leadership failure.
He stated that his idea of governance is solving problems from the first day of inauguration and not benchmarking achievement on 100 days.