Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has promised to restructure Nigeria and pull people out of poverty if elected president in the forthcoming February 25 election.
He said this Monday on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict program.
On restructuring, Obi said, “It is not something that I am going to do by presidential fiat. We are going to sit down and talk and go through the process of rule of law in doing that, but I can assure you we need to restructure. We all have factor endowment that will make the country work, those who are against restructuring might even benefit more.”
The former Anambra State governor said he would pull people out of poverty by focusing on promoting micro, small, and medium enterprises, noting that the sector is the greatest productive area in any economy.
“The greatest productive area in any economy I have studied is micro, small, and medium enterprises. You can go and take study in various countries, even first world countries talk less of third world countries. The countries that people use as exemplary today and I will always go for the ones with big numbers, from China to India to Indonesia.
“All of them their economies are driven by this sector. So I believe that you need to study, listen to this section because they will propel what we want to achieve and for me, the commitment is to pull people out of poverty that is measurable,” Obi said.
According to him, what the government of the past in Nigeria has continuously failed to do is take stock of how things stand when they come in and how they are going when they have entered office.
“In 2012 our unemployment was between 10 and 12 percent, today it’s 33 to 35, our monetary poverty was 55 million, 33 percent, today it is about forty-something percent and 95 million. Of course, our multidimensional poverty has now increased to 133 million.
“So these are things you need to say if in 2023 a new government comes in, we need to draw a line, this is where we stand and start implementing that thing you think that can start reversing the situation and reducing things like poverty, unemployment, inflation in an organized measurable way,” he said.
The Labour Party flag bearer also promised to bring everybody together if he wins the February 25 presidential election, adding that uniting the country means everybody must be given a sense of belonging.
Asked about his thought on opponents who mock him for not having a structure to win the election, Obi said that his structure is the Almighty God and the people of Nigeria.
“When I started, they said it is just four people tweeting in a room, now they are saying I don’t have the structure, I don’t have the number, the number will be determined by the voters. My biggest structure, I said, is the Almighty God followed by the people of Nigeria whom I am pleading with to build a new Nigeria, a new Nigeria is possible,” Obi said.
