From Maurice Okafor
The 2007 presidential candidate of the defunct Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Chief Maxi Okwu, has said Nigeria needs a president capable of setting the country on the path of reinvention from 2027.
He described Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), as the most suitable candidate for the task among those seeking the presidency in 2027, arguing that four years is enough to set Nigeria on the path to economic recovery.
Okwu made this known in a recent interview with The AUTHORITY Newspaper while commenting on the state of the nation.
He said: “What Nigeria needs now is a President who has the capacity, competence and credibility to set Nigeria on the path of economic recovery. Mr Peter Obi is giving hope that there can be a new Nigeria. I see him not indulging in profligacy. He is a good manager of resources. President Tinubu should go and rest after his first term. A new Nigeria is possible with Mr Peter Obi.”
“What Nigeria needs is an urgent reset. We have been off track for a long time. Mr Peter Obi doesn’t need 100 years to do that. He will make the desired impact and give the country a new direction in four years. When you go to Northern Nigeria, the level of poverty is so high, yet the region has produced most of Nigeria’s presidents. So, it is not a matter of years but tactics and strategy.
“Once good governance is brought to the people, you don’t need to know where the President or Governor comes from. The bottom line is the dividends of democracy. Mr Peter Obi will reset Nigeria and patriotism will be restored,” Okwu explained.
Chief Okwu said that although he had retired from active partisan politics, he remained an advocate of good governance.
He disclosed that he was not currently a card-carrying member of any political party but was supporting Obi and the NDC in the interest of rescuing the country.
The former CPP presidential candidate also maintained that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had failed Nigerians and should leave office after its first term.
He said: “We clamoured for late President Muhammadu Buhari with the APC in 2015, hoping that he would begin the turnaround of our economy, but his administration was a disaster. Today, President Tinubu has done worse than Buhari.
“Nigerians don’t want him to continue. You are seeing the handwriting on the wall. Across the board, most Nigerians, irrespective of tribe and religion, are hoping on Mr Peter Obi. With Mr Peter Obi, a new Nigeria is possible,” Chief Okwu stated.
Reacting to claims that the infrastructural decay in the South-East was receiving more attention under President Tinubu than in previous administrations, Okwu insisted that the zone remained the least funded in terms of federal projects.
He said: “The least funded in terms of projects in the past three years is the South-East zone. Take, for instance, the standard-gauge railway lines. They are not in the South-East zone. You have them in the South-West and Middle Belt, but they do not pass through the South-East zone.
“The much-talked-about reconstruction of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway is an MTN contract. MTN pays the contractors and gets rebates from it. The project is going on fine. MTN is paying the contractors. Show us the funding, the money allocated.
“When you talk of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), where are the projects? People are criticising them for spending huge amounts on seminars instead of executing projects.
“Mr Peter Obi has a vision and clearly articulated programmes of action. He will hit the ground running. He is not given to wastefulness. He has identified the agricultural potentials in the North and other zones. His administration will stir a revolution in the agricultural sector.
“The level of corruption in oil revenue is quite alarming. Oil theft is a major issue. Mr Peter Obi will reduce theft.
“President Tinubu has not been able to fund three budgets. Money for three budget cycles has not been implemented. That is another waste. Yet, new jets, yachts, etc., are being bought. All these are wasteful expenditures.
“Our health sector has collapsed. There is hardly any functional government-owned health clinic in my town, Achi, in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State. The Type II hospitals must be equipped before they can function. Without private clinics, we would be nowhere.
“These are the problems Mr Peter Obi will tackle head-on and immediately. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world, and we are not ashamed,” Chief Okwu exclaimed.
