A former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has frowned at the recent defections of some political actors, criticising the current administration.
Obi, who briefed journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, said that Nigeria is not experiencing military rule.
‘We are not in a military time when you capture people’, he said in reaction to recent defection of Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Senator Douye Diri.
Mbah moved from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but Diri kept his next political party to his chest, although all hands point in the direction of the APC.
Describing Mbah as his good friend, Obi said: ‘I believe that as governor, he must have taken his decision based on his own political views and calculations’.
The former Anambra State Governor also dismissed claims the southeast could be ‘captured’ politically.
He insisted that leadership in a democracy is about persuasion, not coercion.
‘As for the alleged plot to capture the southeast, we are not in a military time when you capture people.
‘You are a leader. You tend to do the right things for them to follow you. So I don’t think anybody is capturing anywhere’, Obi stated.
He called on public officials to prioritise good governance and policies that directly improve the lives of citizens, warning that no amount of political realignment can guarantee loyalty from the people without performance.
‘The government needs to do more if it wants the people to support it’, he added.
