Peter Obi promises to actualise mandate; Locks down Benin City as he continues tour
Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, has said that those who voted for him across the country voted for hope in a new Nigeria which he and his running mate, Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed will use every legal means to actualise.
Mr. Obi, who said this as he continued his thank you tour and campaign stops for candidates of the party in the March 18 Governorship and State Assembly elections, also dismissed the claims that it is only Igbos that voted for him, insisting that all over the country, people of all ethnic groups and religious backgrounds trooped out to vote for Labour Party because they saw in him and Baba-Ahmed the promise of the new Nigeria they all yearn for.
He noted that has never rigged elections in his life and would never do so, that he had never paid anybody to vote for him and would never do so, insisting that he and his running mate are committed to bringing about the real change that Nigerians want, assuring that they will stand with the people who voted overwhelmingly for them until the goal of bringing about a Nigeria that all citizens would be proud to call their country is achieved.
Obi continued his tour and campaign for candidates of the party, which has taken him to Enugu, Abia and Delta States with a stop in Benin, the Edo State Capital, Saturday, where he urged the electorate to troop out again on March 18 and vote for all LP candidates.
The former Anambra State Governor, who literally shut down Benin city as he made his way through the streets from Delta State where he had campaigned for the party’s Governorship Candidate, Mr. Ken Pela and LP candidates for the State Assembly election, held a Town Hall meeting with the State Assembly candidates and other stakeholders in Benin.
Huge, ecstatic crowds followed him wherever he went, from Enugu where he went in company of the LP Governorship Candidate in the state, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, to pay a condolence visit on the family of the brutally killed Senatorial Candidate of the party for Enugu East District, Barrister Oyibo Chukwu, who has been replaced on the ballot by his brother, Chief Kelvin Chukwu, to Abia State where he visited some communities with the LP Governorship Candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, and to Anambra State where he met with already elected members of the National Assembly and candidates for the State Assembly polls of March 18.
From Anambra State he had crossed the Niger Bridge to Delta State where, at every stop, more supporters thronged around him and Mr. Ken Pela.
From Delta, Obi crossed into Edo State and whipped up more frenzy as an unprecedented crowd of supporters surrounded him, especially at the New Benin Market. A commentator described the situation in the city as a lockdown and noted that the crowd was organic.
The State Assembly candidates, who spoke after his meeting with them, confirmed that the visit had boosted their chances at the polls, especially as there had been rumours either that they were being sponsored by the state government or that their party (LP) had entered into agreements with other parties to back the other parties’ candidates.
The new momentum, another commentator said, may result in a takeover of the Edo State House of Assembly by the Labour Party if the elections are free, fair and transparent.
Mr. Obi is expected to continue with his thank you tours, which he is using as opportunity to campaign for the party’s Governorship and House of Assembly candidates in the March 18 elections.
