By Divine Nwakanma
Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi on Monday said he has not received any money from anybody for his campaigns, insisting he was funding the presidential campaign alone.
“Let me say this, I have not received one naira from anybody for my campaigns. I read sometime that I received 150m dollars funding from abroad. This is not so. I am funding my presidential campaign from my pocket. That does not mean if they give me money I will not take. But Jo till today, nobody has having me any money for the campaigns.”
Obi spoke in Lagos at the interactive session with the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) for major presidential candidates and top political players.
He promised that when elected to power, he will take the responsibility to resolve challenges and not turn himself to a complainer over issues.
“I am not promising you that I will do everything right or solve every problem of Nigeria. But in those situations that I cannot provide a ready answer or defies my solution process, I will tell you Nigerians because what causes breach of trust and misunderstanding is when a leader doesn’t communicate with the people.
“I am not promising you that I will do everything right or solve every problem of Nigeria. But in those situations that I cannot provide a ready answer or defies my solution process, I will tell you Nigerians because what causes breach of trust and misunderstanding is when a leader doesn’t communicate with the people.”
Obi advised that all the past activities of the presidential candidates should be probed to know their real character, competence, ability and their commitment to do the right things while in office.
He said the 2023 elections would be critical to the nation and so candidates should not be elected based on certificates, but on character and merit.
“Many of the candidates don’t have reference point; people who are not known. People who cannot create wealth, cannot manage wealth,” he said.
Obi noted that poor leadership had been the bane of governance in Nigeria, a reason successive leaders that made anti-corrupt promises failed woefully.
“Leadership changes everything,” Obi said and promised to change all the wastes and rascality in government if elected.
He also advised that the 2023 election should not be based on tribal sentiments, describing nepotism as the highest form of corruption.
“Next year’s election should not be about tribe. You should not vote for Peter Obi because he is an Igbo man. It should also not be about religion. These are the confusion people have brought to deceive us,” he said.