In several parts of the country, supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi trooped out in large numbers to demonstrate their solidary for his candidacy in next year’s election.
In Lagos, Benin City, Asaba, Zaria and other cities, they turned the Independence Day celebration into a show of strength for their candidate.
In Lagos, they trooped out at the Lekki area to rally in support of Obi, while security was heavily built up at the toll gate area where both the court and security forces had warned the supporters not to converge.
Known as the Obidients, they marched along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, chanting ‘Obi! Obidient!’
Sharing a video on Twitter, a tweep, @Nkemchor posted: “The police presence at Lekki did not stop youths from gathering. Very proud of this generation. If Lekki is your route join them”!
@eklepatience tweeted, “All we want is a genuine leader that’s ready to serve Nigerians we’re not asking for too much nah just give us Peter Obi. Festac Lagos is Obidient”.
According to tweeps, who shared images, the rally also seemed to be holding in other parts of Lagos, like Festac town and National Stadium, Surulere.
The Convener of the rally Eti-Osa area, Mr Mickie Igwe echoed the enthusiasm of the crowd about Obi’s victory. “We will not labour in vain, Peter Obi is the solution”, they chanted along the streets of Lekki-Epe Expressway.
Igwe said it had reached a point of impossibility for Obi to lose the 2023 presidential election.
“It is expedient that we do this campaign to show support for Peter Obi. We waited for campaigns to officially start so that we would be abiding by INEC’s regulations before coming out.
“At this point, the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar do not stand a chance against Peter Obi,” he boasted.
“I’m not saying this to get people excited, but it is a fact. Before now in Nigeria, we had about 50 million Nigerians who were registered voters but do not vote. We also have seen a historic turnout of about 20 million Nigerians come out this year alone to register for their Permanent Voter’s Cards, all in support of Peter Obi.
“It is safe to say that Obi is the man the people want. The burden rests on the shoulders of INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) to ensure that this election is free and fair because we will be watching closely,” Igwe added.
The Convener of the Peter Obi rally for the Victoria Garden City area, Dr Stan Ogbuehi said that neither the Labour Party nor its candidate had any impute into the convening of the rally, explaining that all efforts were from Nigerians who believed that Obi is the change Nigeria needed.
He said: “Peter Obi will turn Nigeria from a consuming country to a producing one. We were able to pull this crowd here because unanimously we believe in one candidate, Peter Obi.
“This man is the only one that has the capacity to pull Nigerians out from the pain we have been suffering for the past 62 years, to a place where we want to be.
“We are all standing behind him because he is the only candidate that we can see and we believe will give us the change that we want in Nigeria.
“We are putting our trust in him because he has the integrity that we lack in leadership. He is the only one we see as far as this election is concerned. We don’t care about other parties”.
Supporters of the LP candidate could also be heard chanting, “We are the structure Obi needs; Obi is not a boy but a man; Our eye don clear, our Mumu don do”.
Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) were also present at the rally as they carried placards and chanted along with other supporters.
One of the PWDs identified only as Dirisu, said: “Obi is a good man, that is why we want him. Many of us here are Hausa but our people in government have done nothing for us. We have not benefited anything from their government, that is why we believe Obi will do differently”.
Another protester, Paul, who called himself ‘Aboki for Peter Obi’, said he had been to all the geopolitical zones in the country and, of all the candidates running to be the president, Obi was the best choice.
In Asaba, capital of Delta State, a one-million-man march disrupted the 62nd Independence Day celebration.
The unprecedented and intimidating crowd that marched from the inter-bus roundabout along Nnebisi Road kept increasing as they shut down the city for seven hours.
The PUNCH observed that the passion-driven youths came out from different communities of Delta North Local Government Area around 8 am to embark on the march around Asaba.
One of Obi’s supporters, Mr Donatus Ebere said that what the group witnessed was more than a one-million-march.
He said: “We are having one-million-march in solidarity with Peter Obi but what we saw today is no longer one million. You see that the crowd here is about two million.
“Before we chose between two evils. Now, we have Peter Obi over the two evils. So, in 2023, the youths will massively vote for Obi”.
He said that the one-million-march would be translated into one million Permanent Voter Cards in Asaba, urging supporters to ensure they get their cards so that the march would not be in vain.
The Obi supporters in Benin City marched around the Ring Road, the city centre.
