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Tag: Peter Obi

  • Obi campaigns in Anambra markets

    With the relaxation of the ban on campaign till Thursday, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi, has resumed campaigning in major markets across Anambra State.

    Obi yesterday visited major markets in Onitsha – Electronics market, Ogbo Afere, Relief Market, Ogbaru Main Market. At each of the markets, Obi explained to the people the imperatives of the Atiku’s Presidency as what Nigeria needs now to get the country working again.

    Read also: Army rescues 14 children from traffickers

    Obi, who lamented the level of decay in the country in terms of infrastructure, absence of employment for the youth, lawlessness and recklessness in high places, mounting foreign and local debt, biting tax regime, incompetence, among others, said any further  tolerance of the present state of affairs would see the country collapse.

    Counting the number of generators in one of the markets, Obi asked rhetorically: “How long will our economy be powered by generators?” He promised that Abubakar Atiku, having come out with detailed work plan, would place the country on track again to continue her truncated democratic and economic development.

  • FG uncovers fresh plans by PDP to scuttle poll

    … PDP plots to orchestrate crisis, FG alleges

     

    Barely few days to the general elections, the Federal Government on Tuesday alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is planning to orchestrate a crisis and trigger a sense of panic among the populace.

    It said the plot is in furtherance of their plan to discredit the election and cause a constitutional crisis.

    It, however, urged international community to ignore plot to discredit the Saturday poll before it is conducted.

    The government, which made the claims in a statement in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, said PDP bigwigs, including its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, his running mate Peter Obi, PDP Governors and others, are planning a world press conference in order to level frivolous and unfounded allegations against the government.

    The statement said: “With just a few days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the Federal Government has alerted the nation to the last-minute desperate plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to orchestrate a crisis and trigger a sense of panic among the populace, in furtherance of their plan to discredit the election and cause a constitutional crisis.

    “The plot confirms the alarm raised by the Federal Government on Jan. 21st and Feb. 3rd 2019 that the PDP is planning to scuttle the election and, where that fails, discredit it.

    “In the days ahead, PDP bigwigs, including its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, his running mate Peter Obi, PDP Governors and others, are planning a world press conference in order to level frivolous and unfounded allegations against the federal government and the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    Read Also: Buhari vows to recover $16bn squandered on power by PDP

    The statement gave insights into the plot by the opposition including alleged connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) by the Presidency.

    The statement added: “Part of the false allegations they plan to make is that the Presidency, in connivance with the APC, is planning to force the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce presidential election results that are favourable to the government in power, on the basis of the false premise that the APC’s intelligence team is worried that the ruling party would lose the elections.

    “The PDP bigwigs also plan to use their world press conference to further disparage the Buhari Administration as well as the ruling APC, with a view to painting an unfavourable image of both  Nigerians and the international community also to put the government on the defensive in the run-up to the polls.

    The Minister said the “PDP’s last joker is a two-hour live press conference to be addressed by the PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, on Feb. 14th, the last day of electioneering campaign, to chronicle all their concocted allegations and lies against the ruling government, cast aspersion on government and ruling party officials and throw innuendos here and there.

    The statement added: ”As electioneering campaign winds down, the PDP has realized that it cannot possibly win free, fair and credible polls. It has thus resorted to engaging in red herring, hauling insults and abuses at Federal Government and ruling party officials and making outlandish allegations with a view to creating a sense of panic and crisis.

    ”The truth is that President Muhammadu Buhari, a man respected globally for his integrity, has continuously assured that the elections will be free, fair, credible and peaceful. He has warmly welcomed observers, both local and foreign., because he has nothing to hide, and because he is sure that the achievements of his Administration will win him re-election.

    Mohammed urged international community to ignore plot to discredit the Saturday poll.

    ”We are therefore calling on all Nigerians and the international community to disregard any attempt to scuttle or discredit the polls.

    “We urge observers to keep an open mind. There is no cause for alarm, except in the warped imagination of the PDP, which has entered the panic mode and is already ruing the loss of another general election even before it has been held,” he said.

  • PDP coming to put smile on faces of Nigerians — Obi

    Mr Peter Obi, Vice-Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), says that his party will bring back smiles to the faces of Nigerians when it wins the Feb. 16 presidential election.

    Obi said this while addressing newsmen before embarking on a roadshow in Awka on Tuesday.

    He said PDP would restore the country’s days of economic prosperity which had suffered set back under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

    He said voting back the APC meant “prolonging the suffering in the land”.

    According to him, the country is collapsing under the watch of incompetent and incapable people; come out en mass on Feb. 16 and vote out this the APC controlled-government.

    “Nigeria has the highest number of poor people in the world today where about 90 millions are poor that is half of the population.

    “About 21 million youths are unemployed, nobody is happy with situation in the country today and any person that is happy with the situation is not a normal human being.

    “PDP is coming back to restore happiness and lessen the sufferings of the people,’’ he said.

    Earlier, Mr Oseloka Obaze, Chairman of Atiku-Obi Presidential Campaign Council in Anambra, said the PDP was coming with positive ideas on how to rebuild Nigeria.

    Obaze expressed confidence on the chances of PDP to win the presidential election, saying Nigerians need a new lease of life.

    Read Also: ‘Only PDP candidates can attract development to Bayelsa’

    “PDP findings show that Nigerians are not happy with the present government of APC and re-electing them will worsen the sufferings of the people.

    “If you vote for the present government to return, things will be worse than we had in the last three years and half.

    “They made several promises in 2015 and they have not fulfilled any, we want to restore the economy and human dignity in the next four years,’’ he said.

    Obaze said there was nothing to show that PDP governors in South-East were against the Atiku/Obi ticket as no one had come out openly to say he was not supporting it.

    “The PDP governors in the South-East are solidly behind Atiku-Obi ticket, so there is no need to worry about,’’ he said.

  • PDP ‘ll fix economy — Peter Obi

    The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Peter Obi, on Monday said the party would address the challenges facing the economy, if elected.

    Obi gave the assurance in Lagos while addressing traders at the Alaba International market, Ojo, Lagos.

    Obi was accompanied on the campaign visit to the market by the party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi Agbaje.

    Obi, who addressed the traders in Igbo, said the PDP was the answer to the various problems bedevilling the economy as the party had a workable blueprint to cause a turnaround.

    Besides, he said the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had a good understanding of the economy “having successfully managed the economy as Vice-President in the past“.

    Obi added that Atiku had managed several private companies successfully and that he would bring his acumen and experience to bear on the economy.

    Obi said with his experience garnered as former governor of Anambra State and in business, he and Atiku would put the economy in the path of recovery.

    Obi said a vote for PDP would mean that the issues of high poverty rate, unemployment and other signs of poor economy were tacked holistically.

    The PDP candidate added that Agbaje was passionate about what he called a free and progressive Lagos and urged residents to vote for him.

    Read also: NLC may endorse Wabba, others for second term

    Speaking, Agbaje said Lagos residents could trust him to deliver real and impactful governance, if elected.

    He promised to fix roads leading to markets in Amuwo-Odofin area of the state, while assuring traders of the right environment for their businesses to thrive.

    “We are going to fix roads leading to markets in this area. We will fix all roads to ease your businesses, regardless of whether they are state or federal roads.

    “Since you pay your taxes to the state, we will respond to your needs. We will not abandon you, that I can promise,” he said.

    Agbaje said he would protect the interests of all who reside jn the state, irrespective of whether they were indigenes or non-indigenes.

    He said the state thrived on its cosmopolitan nature as people from different parts of the country had contributed to her development.

    The PDP governorship candidate urged residents to vote for Atiku/Obi, him and other PDP candidates for progress not only in the state but for the country.

    NAN reports that both Obi and Agbaje later visited traders in ASPAMDA market and Trade Fair complex.

    They urged the traders to vote for the PDP in the general elections, assuring them the party would implement policies to boost the economy, if elected.

    They also said the party would give the necessary support to entrepreneurs and businessmen, who, they said, were the engine room of the economy (NAN)

  • Tradermoni fundamentally flawed, says Atiku

    Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on Friday dismissed the Federal Government’s social investment programme, especially the Tradermoni scheme as fundamentally flawed.

    According to him the beneficiaries are” untrained, untraceable and funding inadequate”.

    Atuku, who was represented by his running mate Peter Obi, spoke at a two- day job creation exhibition in Asaba, Delta State.

    According to him, unemployment can only be solved by promoting micro, small and medium enterprises, urging the federal government to understudy the Delta State government’s scheme.

    His words: “The focus of every government is to create employment and you can’t solve unemployment anywhere in the world without promoting micro, small and medium enterprises.

    “So, what Governor Okowa is doing through the job creation office, training people and giving them the funding to start their businesses.

    “When you compare it with the Trader Moni initiative by the F.G, I really don’t want to compare them, but how can you give people N10, 000 without training?

    “Who do we even know that they are giving the money? How would they collect the money?

    “Here we train them and support them with funding. This is happening only in Delta.

    “Other government should come and learn from Okowa. So the Federal Government should come to Delta State and learn.”

    Read Also: Obi blasts federal government “tradermoni”

    Okowa said the economic downturn that heralded his assumption of office threatened to derail his campaign promise of prosperity for all Deltans, adding “our novel job creation scheme, geared at nurturing, supporting, supporting and promoting micro, small and medium scale enterprises is triggering off a new wave of economic growth, social inclusion and sustainable development.”

    He said 4,253 unemployed youths have become business owners across various skill areas since his administration came on board.

    Okowa listed the areas of job training to include ICT, catering, event management, beauty services, agricultural production and agricultural processing.

    He said the job creation scheme has been endorsed by the World Bank/European Union State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) for funding support.

  • Atiku’s endorsement splits Ohaneze Ndigbo

    Chieftains of Ohaneze Ndigbo are split over the purported endorsement of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Abubakar Atiku by the organisation.

    It would be recalled that an arm of the organisation known as ‘Ime Obi’ arising from its meeting on Thursday, declared support for Atiku on the grounds that he was running with an Igbo man, Mr Peter Obi.

    This endorsement is in clear contrast of earlier stance of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation of not endorsing any of the presidential candidates.

    However, a former Secretary General of the organisation, Chief Obiora Ozobu, described the move as a hoax and personal invention of the President General of the organisation, Chief Nnia Nwodo.

    Ozobu, who disclosed this in Enugu on Thursday during a media briefing appealed to the people of the area to ignore the endorsement.

    He described it as a mischievous act aimed at causing division among Ndigbo.

    He said that Nwodo lacked the capacity to summon a meeting of ‘Ime Obi’ because his tenure as president general had lapsed.

    He also wondered why such meeting was held on a day President Muhammadu Buhari was in Anambra and Enugu States for his presidential campaign when the Zik mausoleum was inaugurated.

    He said that the leaders of the organisation were expected to participate actively in the inauguration ceremony of the project which was started 23 years ago but completed by Buhari.

    Ozobu said that the meeting could be best described as a meeting of friends of Atiku and did not represent the wishes of the people of the area.

    “The meeting is an attempt to perpetuate Nwodo in office. Granted that there were attempts to extend the tenure of Ohaneze executives to four but such has not materialised,” he said.

    Also speaking, the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige described the move as unfortunate, adding that the endorsement of presidential candidates had never done anything good for Ndigbo.

    Ngige said that Ohaneze as a socio-cultural organisation had no business endorsing a particular candidate.

    The minister said that it was obvious that Nwodo had divided the organisation along party lines, adding that “we will fight this out.”

    Former Enugu State governor, Mr Sullivan Chime noted that the said endorsement was done by those that had left office.

    “It was not a meeting of Ohaneze Ndigbo but a meeting between Nwodo and his friends. Ohaneze has no business doing what that group did,” Chime said.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama, similarly said that it was inappropriate for such a meeting to hold at a time Buhari was in the South East for his campaign.

    Onyeama described the purported meeting as a calculated attempt to exclude a significant number of people from such gathering, assuming it was a meeting of Ohaneze.

    Read Also: Between Ohaneze Ndigbo and Nnamdi Kanu

    “A significant number of the membership was not present at the meeting assuming it was a meeting of Ohaneze. So it is inappropriate to have a meeting of such magnitude,” Onyeama said.

    Former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, said that such a position made no meaning to the people of the area.

    “Our sons and daughters belong to many political parties and our people have never voted as a block but according to their conscience,” he said.

    Nnamani said that such position was not in the best interest of the people and would not stand.

    In a reaction, the Personal Assistant to the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Mr Emeka Attamah, said that everyone was entitled to their opinions.

    Attamah said that Ohaneze Ndigbo had endorsed who they wanted, adding that the people kicking against it were members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    He said that it was misleading to say that the tenure of the executive members of the organisation was two years, adding that the constitution had been amended to reflect the current four-year tenure.

    “The tenure is four years and they should go to court to contest,” Attamah said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that other chieftains of the organisation at the briefing are the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu and Chief Osita Okechukwu among others.

  • Obi blasts federal government “tradermoni”

    PDP Vice-Presidential Candidate, ex-Gov. Peter Obi on Thursday chided the Federal Government’s social investment programme “Tradermoni”.

    He said the scheme is fundamentally flawed, stressing that the beneficiaries are” untrained, untraceable and inadequate funding”.

    Obi was guest of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa spoke at the two- day Job Creation Exhibition which held in Asaba, Delta State.

    According to him, unemployment can only be solved by promoting micro, small and medium enterprises, urging the Federal Government understudy the Delta State government’s scheme.

    His words “The focus of every government is to create employment and you can’t solve unemployment anywhere in the world without promoting micro, small and medium enterprises. So, what Governor Okowa is doing through the job creation office, training people and giving them the funding to start their own business. When you compare it with the Trader Moni initiative by the F.G.I really don’t want to compare them, but how can you give people N10,000 without training, who do we even know that they are giving the money, how would they collect the money?, here we train them and support them with funding. This is happening only in Delta, other government should come and learn from Okowa. So the Federal Government should come to Delta State and learn.”

    Read Also: PDP will revamp economy — Peter Obi

    Earlier, Okowa in an address at the event, said the economic downturn that heralded his assumption of office threatened to abort and derail his campaign promise of prosperity for all Deltans, adding “our novel Job Creation Scheme, geared at nurturing, supporting, supporting and promoting micro, small and medium scale enterprises is triggering off a new wave of economic growth, social inclusion and sustainable development”.

    He said 4,253 unemployed youths have become business owners across various skill areas.

    Okowa listed the areas of job training to include ICT, Catering , Event Management, Beauty Services, Agricultural Production, and Agricultural Processing.

    Others are Food Packaging, Tiling, Plumbing, Electrical Installation among others.

    He attributed the annual economic growth rate of the services and agricultural sector to the incremental outputs from STEP, YAGEP and other interventions since 2015.

    Okowa said the State is set to become a major grower of rice with the coming on stream of Delta YAGEP Rice.

    He said the State job creation scheme was endorsed by the World Bank/European Union State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) for funding support.

  • PDP will reverse ‘this baggage economy’, says Peter Obi

    Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), Mr. Peter Obi has said that the party would reverse what he described as baggage economy by reducing the dependence on crude as the major revenue earner.

    Obi said that the issues of restructuring was sacrosanct to addressing some of the challenges bedevilling the country.

    The former Governor of Anambra State spoke in Benin City, the Edo State capital during an interactive session with members of the public including civil society, representatives of the Nigerian Medical Society, NMA, Nigeria Bar Association and Nigeria Society of Engineers and other professional bodies.

    Obi assured the gathering that the present economic misfortunes of the country would be reversed to rapid economic growth if the PDP is voted into power.

    He said he believed that security votes is right but that monies belonging to the public should be properly accounted for.

    Read Also: 2019: INEC urges journalists on professionalism

    Obi who accused the Buhari-led administration of failing in the promises to the people said it was due to bad leadership and cluelessness.

    He said a PDP government would bring back foreign investors to develop the economy especially those who closed their businesses for fear of kidnapping, banditry, insurgency as a result of inability to provide security for the citizenry.

    According to him, “The election we are face is not election between Atiku and Buhari. It is about the future of Nigeria. Anybody can tell you any story, the thing is that Nigeria is collapsing. Today, we record insecurity like never in the history of Nigeria. Today Nigeria has the highest number of poor people in the world, we must come together to send them packing.

    “Nigeria has been shut down economically, politically and socially for over three years and has resulted in hunger, insecurity, and economic instability especially in the North Eastern part of the country.

    “We are going to treat everybody equal especially the physically challenged in the area of empowerment. We will take the issue of the physically challenged very seriously in our incoming government and that is one of our agenda.

    “When we will do proper restructuring and federalism, local government will become very free and autonomous to get its revenue directly from the federation account without state interference for rapid grassroot development”

    State Chairman of PDP, Chief Dan Orbih urged the people not to be carried away with the sharing of N10, 000 by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • 2019: PDP will bring back Nigeria’s economic fortunes – Obi

    The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the February 16 general election, Mr Peter Obi, says the country’s economic misfortunes will be reversed to rapid economic growth if the party is voted in.

    Obi gave the assurance at an interactive session with the Edo stakeholders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Benin on Thursday.

    According to him more than 40 per cent of young Nigerians are unemployed, leading to Nigeria being referred to as one of the poorest countries in the world.

    He also alleged that “Nigeria has been shut down economically, politically and socially for more than three years.”

    “This has resulted in hunger, insecurity, and economic instability especially in the North Eastern part of the country.”

    According to him, the Atiku/Obi-led government if elected will bring back foreign investors to develop the economy of the country.

    Obi said: “those who have closed their businesses for fear of kidnapping, banditry, insurgency as a result of government inability to provide security for the citizenry, will be encouraged to return.”

    He reiterated that the power sector would be taken care of through policies that would make the sector to work again and contribute to the country’s economic development.

    “We are going to treat everybody equal especially the physically challenged in the area of empowerment.

    Read Also: Why Atiku travelled to USA —Obi

    “We will take the issue of the physically challenged very seriously in our incoming government and that is one of our agenda,” Obi said.

    The PDP vice presidential candidate said that local government autonomy would work through “proper restructuring and federalism.”

    “Local government will become very free and autonomous to get its revenue directly from the federation account without state interference for rapid grassroots development.”

    He also gave the assurance that an Atiku/Obi ticket would ensure that “incessant strike being experienced now,” would be a thing of the past.

    Obi said that if voted in, the PDP administration would give more priority to education and health care facilities.

    Earlier, the Edo Chairman of PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, criticised the Federal Government “tradermoni” loan scheme, telling the people “not to be carried away,” by it.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that most of those that spoke during the meeting appealed to PDP to show “federal presence” in Edo if voted into power.

    NAN

  • PDP will revamp economy — Peter Obi

    The Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday said the party would revamp the economy of the country and set it on the path of growth if returned to power.

    Obi made the statement in Ikeja while addressing traders during his visit to the popular Computer Village.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the party’s governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr Jimi Agbaje, and his running mate, Mrs Haleemat Busari, along with other party faithful were with Obi on the visit.

    Obi claimed the challenges in the country’s economy were caused by the incompetence of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC).

    He said the APC-led Federal Government lacked the capacity to create and grow businesses, hence the various issues bedevilling the economy.

    Obi said that the PDP would turn the economy around if elected, as the party had the experience and the people to do so.

    The PDP vice-presidential candidate said that he and Agbaje had run successful businesses and would bring their experience to bear in promoting businesses in the state and the country.

    “How can a man who does not have a shop aspire to be the chairman of the traders in the market?

    “I have always been a trader. You know that Jimi Agbaje too is a trader. So we understand your needs.

    “You know that the vice president helps to run the economy. With me, you have someone who understands business and understands your needs,” Obi said.

    The PDP vice presidential candidate described ICT as the future of the world, saying Nigeria’s exchange rate would regain health when the country becomes an exporter of computer technology.

    Also speaking, Agbaje alleged that the state government, through bottlenecks, recently discouraged Google from providing free wi-fi in all primary schools in the state.

    He said Google had to look in the ways of Ghana and Uganda when it could not implement its plan easily in the state.

    The candidate said if the plan had been implemented in the state, the Computer Village, being an ICT hub, would have benefitted.

    Read Also: I wish I could believe Peter Obi

    Agbaje said the APC state government had failed to provide incentives to harness the potential of ICT for development.

    He promised that if elected, his government would give the right support to ICT to propel development.

    The PDP candidate also promised to address what he called the problem of multiple tax regime in the state, to promote growth of businesses.

    NAN reports that Obi and Agbaje later visited the Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Mushin as well as markets in Festac Town.

    Speaking at Ladipo market, Agbaje said he would improve facilities at the market to ease business transactions.

    He said he would not shut the market as being threatened by the APC-led administration in the state.

    Agbaje said he would attend to all the needs of the traders and listen to their demands always.

    He said the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari not to assent to the amended Electoral Act bill was not good for democracy.

    Speaking, the General Chairman of the Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market, Mr Jude Nwankwo, urged the PDP and Agbaje to attend to their needs if elected, pledging the traders’ support for them.