Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, has faulted the country’s political parties for lacking ideology, arguing that politicians facing corruption allegations appear to be cleared the moment they cross over to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Obi also dismissed the notion that the endorsement of President Bola Tinubu by nearly all the state governors guarantees victory in the 2027 presidential election, insisting that governors do not automatically reflect the wishes of their people.
He accused the ruling party of working to weaken opposition parties, saying the crises rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the NDC mirror what earlier played out in the Labour Party (LP).
“36 governors support the president. The people in the states are not necessarily with them. It is one thing for a governor to support the president and another for the people to support him. The answer is no. What I am asking for is a free, fair and credible election, which will go down as part of his legacy,” he said.
Obi appealed to young Nigerians to join his push for credible polls, adding: “That is why I am begging the youths, whose lives and futures are at stake, to come out and join me in demanding free, fair and credible elections. He campaigned as a democrat. He has fought for democracy. This is the time to prove it.”
Citing the late President Umaru Yar’Adua as an example, he recalled: “When Yar’Adua became president, he said, ‘The process through which I came into office is faulty, and I am going to ensure that it does not happen again, even if I have to lose.’ He did it. All the subsequent elections after him were free, fair and credible.”
On the question of party ideology, the former Anambra governor declared: “For me, there is no political party in Nigeria today that has an ideology. There is none. Otherwise, the ideology of the APC would be that if you are corrupt and you move to the APC, you are no longer corrupt.”
Recounting his own journey, Obi said he left the PDP when its rules were flouted, moved to the Labour Party, and later to the NDC, adding: “What is happening in the ADC, the NDC and what happened in the Labour Party will never happen if I am president of Nigeria. We must build institutions, and those institutions must allow for fairness.”
Source: Vanguard.
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