Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State, has suggested to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, to have audience with his counterparts in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu; the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, and properly analyse the condition of the country to them, to see if they would volunteer to step down for him in the 2023 general election.
Ortom who made the suggestion in a joint press briefing with Obi who visited him at the Government House Markurdi, said there was a constitutional provision for other candidates to willingly step down for another.
The Benue State Governor who just returned from a two-week vacation from the United States, had while having audience with Igbo veterans in the US, called for the release of the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Ortom who is one of the strong PDP Governors, said that time had come for everybody to jettison politics and work together to rescue Nigeria first.
He extolled the wisdom and intelligence of Obi in the way he had been going about his presidential project, saying that his capacity is well known to Nigerians.
“I welcome my brother Peter Obi for coming to formerly let me know of his ambition to run for the Presidency in 2023.
“Where we are today, we must look beyond politics and work together to ensure that we rescue Nigeria and rebuild it. And I think that Peter Obi’s credentials are very clear everybody knows that.
“He knows that I’m a big stakeholder in the PDP but he has come to see me. I commend him for that.
“This is a very welcome development, and I believe that he will reach out to other presidential candidates in other parties – APC, PDP and NNPP, sit down with them and analyse the situation of Nigeria to them and see if they can step down for him.
“There is a constitutional provision for that. That can work. Let us be seen as putting Nigeria first; that is what is important.”
Quoting from the Bible, John 3:27, which says that: “A man receives nothing except that which is given to him from above,” Gov. Ortom declared that ” if God decides to give it (power) to Peter Obi, nobody can stop him.”
Obi had earlier in the short press briefing, said that he came for a private discussion with the Governor who he described as his friend and brother.
The LP presidential flag bearer while responding to a question on his structure, said that his structure “is 100 million Nigerians living in poverty, and 35 million unemployed young people in the country.”
Continuing he said: “My structure is those people finding it difficult to feed. Nigerians today spend over 100% of their income in feeding, and this is an error.
“Above all, my important structure is the Almighty God.”
