Vice Presidential candidate of PDP in 2019, Peter Obi said he refrained from commenting on Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi’s defection to APC because the nation had more pressing issues to grapple with.
The former Anambra governor noted that the focus should not be on such trivial matters at a time hapless Nigerians are battling severe economic recession.
Obi, who spoke during an Arise TV interview, said it would be highly unfair to Nigerians for political leaders to be bickering on defection when majority of Nigerians were increasingly finding it difficult to feed themselves and their families.
“As at today, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. We have the highest number of out-of-school children. Our unemployment rate is skyrocketing every day, foodstuffs prices are soaring higher and people are dying of hunger. Would it be fair for us to turn blind eyes to all these challenges facing our people and occupy ourselves with who leaves a particular political party or who does not?” he queried.
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Obi further advised political and other stakeholders to set aside discussions on 2023 and instead focus on how to rescue the Nigerian economy from total collapse.
“How many people have been pulled out of poverty by Umahi’s defection? Will Nigeria exit recession because Umahi left PDP? What economic value does Umahi’s defection to APC have on the average Nigerian on the street who is struggling to put food on their table? We must not be distracted by political movements at this time. Anyone is free to belong to any political party. Our common focus should be saving our economy and making our governance fruitful and productive,” he asked.