The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said that his followers and proponents of the ‘Obidient’ movement are mostly Nigerians who are enraged over the sorry state of the nation and therefore demand change.
Obi stated this on Monday while appearing on Arise TV’s Morning Show, where he responded to a question bordering on the aggressive attitude of some of his followers on social media.
According to him, while some of the uncultured social media behaviour by the purported followers have come from opposing camps who often disguise as his followers to perpetrate indecency, some of the firm views expressed by his followers have come from a place of distress and deep hurt due to the deplorable state of affairs in the country.
He said, “I have answered this several times. One, there is infiltration by opponents, and there are those who believe in me who are angry. I’ve served people faithfully. I have never raised my voice at anybody. You cannot go and say because your son shouts at people, that is you. I’m telling them please, but some of them are angry. Some of them have been out of school for the past ten years without jobs. You cannot control their anger. All I can do is an appeal.
Asked how he intends to deliver on his campaign promises, particularly given that all the other presidential candidates have made similar promises, Obi said historical antecedents of the presidential candidates should be key to determining who would fulfil his campaign promises.
He noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress had made several promises to Nigerians which are yet to be fulfilled to date.
He said, “All of us are saying the same thing, but what makes a difference is – who can we trust? This election is about trust. We are promising the same thing, but can we look at the antecedents? Things they have promised in the past, how they delivered it or attempted to deliver it.
“Who among these people can we say have the character, the competence, the capacity, the commitment to at least do what he is saying? That is what differentiates us.
“We’ve had promises in the past. We’ve had promises that the dollar is going to be one-to-one. Now we are almost 800 to one, and nobody is saying anything.
“We do not need all these fanciful, fair, good-looking manifestos or documents that are written. Let the people come and talk. You mentioned Britain, it was because what she (Truss) promised, she could not deliver; and, honourably, she packed her suitcase and went out.”
PUNCH
