Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has asserted that Nigeria’s democracy has failed, attributing this collapse to the actions of the current leadership.
He made these remarks during the 60th birthday celebration and colloquium held for Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and former governor of Imo State.
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“They started in 1999, they laid the foundation, some people came and took it a decking, and some people were trying to raise it to the first floor, and some people came and knocked everything down.
“That’s the situation we are in right now. Everything has been knocked down, nothing works. And I’m somebody who can say this exemplary. I became a governor through the courts. When (former) President (Olusegun) Obasanjo and Atiku (Abubakar) were in government, I did not pay the courts, one naira, I was sitting in my house, in an office, and the court declared me winner.
“That’s cannot happen in Nigeria today. When I was being impeached, the president sent people to come and intervene on my behalf. Ken Nnamani came begged the House not to impeach me. Today, the president impeaches the person. And they were begging in my house not to impeach me and they were in PDP, I was in APGA.
“They were begging and the president (Obasanjo) was calling me and saying, Peter, are you okay? Even when I was impeached, President Obasanjo called me and said, are you okay? Are you safe?” Obi said.
Peter Obi recounted a time after he had won a court case against Andy Uba, that the late President Umaru Yar’adua, who was in London at the time, contacted him and asked him to return.
“I said, President, I can’t come back because you know if I come back this evening, he said, tell me the flight which you’re coming back. And I told him, when I came, it was the first time military people came to receive me at the airport.
“I couldn’t believe it. And they took me straight to him (Yar’adua). Now the president (referring to the present administration) will ask him not to come back here again. So he’s failed. Let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about how we are going to rebuild it. It’s collapsing,” Obi said.
The 60th birthday celebration for Emeka Ihedioha, presided over by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was attended by several prominent figures, including former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Sokoto State Governor Senator Aminu Tambuwal, and former Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari.
During the event, Atiku Abubakar praised Ihedioha’s unwavering loyalty, even when their political paths diverged.
“Emeka and I have kept this relationship and till today I have found him extremely loyal, dedicated and focused even though sometimes we found ourselves on different political divides but we kept our relationship and I think that testifies with the kind of person Emeka is,” Atiku said.
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