The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has asked Nigerians not to hand over a “sick” country like Nigeria to a “sick person”.
Mr Obi stated this on Thursday when he visited the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in continuation of his nationwide campaign ahead of the 25 February presidential election.
“This country is sick and should not be handed over to a sick person. I am not saying that anyone is sick. We have been here for over two hours. We don’t want people who can’t stand for 30 minutes,” he said while interacting with UNN Business School and heads of the institution.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Bola Tinubu, are among the major candidates in the forthcoming election.
There have been concerns about the health conditions of Messrs Tinubu and Atiku lately.
Many claimed that Mr Tinubu regularly seeks medical treatment abroad, and is not coherent with his speeches, and sometimes experiences shaky hands.
Mr Atiku, on the other hand, was reported to have been flown to London recently over health challenges with many suggesting that he was “critically ill.” The PDP has since denied the report.
Mr Obi said character and trust are the main attributes to consider in recruiting Nigerian leaders to avoid plunging the country into further mess, stressing that the identity of whoever wants to lead Nigeria must be known and thoroughly examined.
“In United States, during elections, they go for debates. Somebody once asked Barack Obama questions that are personal and he answered.
“But here in Nigeria, somebody wants to contest elections, we don’t know his real name, we don’t know his real age, we don’t know the schools he attended. Nobody knows his real identity and he is pushing to lead everybody,” he said.
“My name is Peter Obi. I can say I went to Christ the King College (Onitsha), went to University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Both the vice-chancellor today, the deputy vice-chancellor today – these are my school mates.
“We came into the university the same year and left the same year. The people I went to school with, I can see them here today- my seniors and juniors. How come we now have people who do not have classmates? This is very important,” the LP candidate added.
He stressed that although everybody must not acquire formal education, peoples’ records must be “straight.”
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