•Debunks allegation of violation of Electoral Act
•Attending Church programmes has nothing to do with politics — Obi
•Obi-Datti’ll remove Nigeria’s ‘stone of corruption’ — Sen Okonkwo
The Obi-Datti Media Office has debunked the allegations that the Labour Party, LP, Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, who is currently on tour in Europe and America, is on a fund-raising exercise.
The denial came on the heels of demands by members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to sanction LP for allegedly violating the electoral laws that forbid external funding for contestants.
In a related development, Obi has described as uncharitable, the reports credited to Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, accusing him of dragging the Church into politics for the sole reason that he attends Church programmes. Obi spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Valentine Obienyem.
Meantime, Sen. Annie Okonkwo, who chaired a magnetic reception for Peter Obi, in Los Angeles, California, USA, Tuesday night, to round off his recent cross-continental dialogue with ecstatic Nigerians in the diaspora, has said that Nigeria’s barriers to her development, corruption and woeful leadership, will cease to torment her citizens, when the national Obidient political movement finally midwifes the emergence of a Peter Obi presidency, come February 25, 2023 general elections.
Debunks allegation of violation of Electoral Act
In a release, the Media Office explained that Obi’s tour is essential to sensitize Nigerians in the Diaspora on the 2023 elections and not for fund-raising purposes.
It chided the APC media handlers for fretting over the reception accorded Obi by Nigerians abroad, arguing that the outpouring of emotions for the LP candidate is an indication of the substance of his person and message.
The statement read: “The Obi-Datti Media Office attention has been drawn to the desolate and baseless allegation by a support group of Tinubu-Shettima calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and his running mate, Ahmed Baba Datti, from the 2023 presidential election for allegedly violating a section of Electoral Act on Election funding.
“All of a sudden, the structure-less and social media candidates are now the headache of the ruling party that they now had to fabricate and imagine things they want the electoral commission to act on. Obi’s successful trip abroad which is ostensibly to sensitize and carry along Nigerians aboard on his upcoming agenda of rebuilding the country is open and transparent and not f undraising. But we know why it’s discomforting some people because they cannot meet Nigerians in the diaspora knowing that they contributed to their leaving the country in the first place.
“We have always said that their understanding of structure is the abundance of looted funds in their kitty that they plan to deploy on hungry Nigerian voters during the election to sway their votes.
“They know nobody has the kind of stolen funds they have and are always uncomfortable with anything suggesting to them that their opponents could match them. Obi did not go to beg for money but to sell himself and his mission to Nigerians outside the shores who are critical stakeholders in the Nigeria project. Since June 2022, when they deployed a lump of their loots to get the ticket of their party, the nation’s currency crashed and is still battling for breath. And since then, they have been mopping up foreign currencies ahead of the election to buy voters.
“The Media office, therefore, needs to educate them that Obi and his Running mate are a knowledgeable duo who know the law and operate within it and who became what they are financially, politically, and socially doing legitimate businesses. They have no bullion van history of questionable wealth and are ready and willing to be scrutinized.”
Attending Church programmes not politics —Obi
Obienyem said that it was on record that Obi attended programmes he was invited to, including those organized by the Churches. He asked: “Should Obi start shunning Church events because of politics, even when we know that since leaving office in 2014, Obi h as visited over 1000 schools and hospitals owned by the Churches, offering them all manner of support for the upgrade of their schools and hospitals that serve the citizens of Nigeria.
Obienyem, while cautioning against bringing the name of the Church into disrepute, said that those doing such were those linking genuine actions of patriots to politics, even when it was unnecessary.
Obienyem, who also said that the reference to politics was unnecessary because electioneering had not started, disagreed with Okowa on distinguishing those to be reached out to or not, saying: “Why would Okowa suggest that it is wrong for anybody to reach out to the Churches? Is this not contemptuous of Churches? Everybody is affected by the bad governance in the country and should expectedly be involved in the efforts to enthrone good governance.”
Obi will remove corruption from our necks —Sen Okonkwo
Making his remarks at the epic Beverly Hilton venue, attended by the creme of eminent global diasporans, Okonkwo said the message is clear and straight. “To take back Nigeria to work for Nigerians is a task which time has come and the reason every guest is here to hear Peter, whom God and man have found fit and ready to do the tough job”.
“We are pleased to affirm our agreement to what Nigerians across religions and tribes, professions and trades, local and international have proclaimed loudly, that in Peter Obi, their hopes are alive again, and with Sen Datti Ahmed, the best is found, so the others should step aside to rest.”
VANGUARD
