2023 Presidency Not Based On Ethnicity, Religion - Peter Obi

The Presidential candidate of the Labour party (LP) Peter Obi, says Nigerians will elect a leader that they trust as it is not the turn of anyone to govern the country.

He said the 2023 presidency is not based on ethnicity or religion, hence it is nobody’s turn.

Obi appears to be taking a jibe at Bola Tinubu, standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over a statement he made some months ago.

In June, Tinubu spoke about how he was instrumental in the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, and why he deserves to be his successor.

Some of the phrases used during his charged speech were “Èmi Lọ Kàn” – meaning, “I’m the next”.

Obi said since there is no place where Christians or Muslims buy things cheaper, or Yoruba or Hausa have free light than others in the country, then the coming election is about character and competence and not anybody’s turn.

Speaking at a retreat organized by LP on Monday in Abuja, Obi said the 2023 elections should be based on “competence”.

“We will do this retreat now; after the election, we will do another one. Next year’s elections will not be based on ethnicity,” the presidential candidate said.

“We have had it before; it would not be on religion. There is no place where Christians buy things cheaper, there is no place where Muslims buy things cheaper.

“It will not be by turn, it is nobody’s turn. It must not be by connection. The election next year must be based on character and trust; it must be based on competence.”

The LP presidential candidate said he would reduce corruption by 70 percent if he is elected into office.

“I am in this retreat to listen. Let us put it in writing; when we succeed, you must be around to say this is what we have agreed on. Even if we don’t achieve 100 percent, we must have made sacrifices,” he said.