The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, has said he has no plan to leave the party ahead of the 2027 general election.
Obi said he was committed to resolving the internal crisis rocking the Labour Party, stressing that he was a man of peace.
Obi spoke in Gombe State on Sunday shortly after inaugurating a borehole he donated to the ram market in Tike Pantami.
At its recent national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State, the Julius Abure-led Labour Party had said it reserved its 2027 presidential ticket for Obi.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which wanted Abure out, had insisted that his re-election would not stand, declaring that the convention was invalid.
The NLC spokesman, Benson Upah, also said Obi was free to leave the Labour Party to further his presidential ambition on any other platform.
Fielding questions from journalists in Gombe on Sunday, Obi said, “No; there is no such thing. I’m for peace, I like peace. I believe we are one people. Our concentration should be on peace and I believe that we will resolve all situations”.
On recent online reports of a possible collaboration with former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Obi added, “Well, I’m more interested now in Nigeria’s success today than tomorrow. We are always concentrating on the election rather than what Nigerians are going through. My commitment is about Nigerians living in a better society, given a better life and that’s my concern”.
Decrying the increased electricity tariff, Obi urged stakeholders to be strategic, adding “We should all think it through, see how we can provide a remedy, how we can deal with it, especially as it concerns the poor areas everywhere in the world, those living in Band A areas pay more while those in rural areas are subsidised, that is how it works”.
While speaking about his choice of Gombe State, Obi said he had been involved in bringing dividends of democracy to the people in the spirit of the Ramadan fast.
“I have been going round the country to various communities, trying to support in areas of need. Today, the 7th of April I’m here in Gombe and I came to Pantami market to help them in the area of water supply that is the borehole I just inaugurated because you could see the business here, all the rams and everything here but they don’t have water.
“We will support some individuals, which we will do remotely, and send them some little money to support them, about 100 that will be done. I decided to come to the market to price the rams; you can see that the smallest, which was about N40,000 last year, has doubled in price and Sallah is just around the corner and you can see it will be difficult for everyone especially families to celebrate things have doubled, tripled and it makes it difficult for the poor to live in our society”.
