Peter Obi gives condition to join any coalition to oust APC in 2027

• He voiced his displeasure at the state of the nation, adding that Nigeria is not working as widespread suffering and poverty envelope the country.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has said the only thing that matters to him is to have a working Nigeria with happy and prosperous Nigerians.

This is even as he said that he won’t be part of any coalition whose sole aim is to grab power and not how to tackle the myriad of challenges confronting Nigerians.

The LP chieftain made this known on Monday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists on the sidelines of a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria with the theme, ‘Strengthening Nigeria’s Democracy: Pathways to Good Governance and Political Integrity’.

He voiced his displeasure at the state of the nation, adding that Nigeria is not working as widespread suffering and poverty envelope the country.

The conference was organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Westminster for Democracy (WfD), Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) and National Peace Committee.

Reacting to the proposed coalition, Obi said his priority is how to make Nigeria work and pull the country out of poverty and that is what the coalition must focus on.

He said: “For me, what is important is let’s discuss Nigeria. Whether we are going to do coalition, let’s talk about the future of the country.

“But often, we abandon the country and what we need to do is talking about power grab. I’m not interested in any coalition for the purpose of taking power.

“It is about discussing Nigeria. How do we care about securing the Nigerians? How do we care about the common person in Nigeria? How do we care about our children being in school? That is the most important thing for now.”

Obi also stated that there is a need to put an end to the issue of monetisation of politics.

He added: “That’s what we need to remove, because what you’re doing is that you’re encouraging stealing of public money. Because if I steal it and use it to win an election, then I get all the power and everything, including immunity not to be prosecuted. So we must stop it. That is what is driving the stealing.”