By John Ugo, Awka
Former Vice Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, said on Monday that he hopes to contest for the 2023 presidential election if his party the Peoples Democratic Party throws the contest open for all, or zones it to the south.
Obi who stated this in a release by his media aide, Mr Val Obienyem, which was made available to newmen in Awka the Anambra state capital said that he is capable of turning around the fortunes of the country, but would wait on the decision of the PDP before he declares his intention.
Obi said: “All the elections that I followed in the past, the party that I belong to today, the PDP made a pronunciation and took a stand. At least in 2019 when I was involved, where I can say Atiku graciously chose me as his running mate which I remain eternally grateful to him for, the party decided that the candidate should come from the North and that was what the party decided.”
“And I believe that the party owes it a duty to say what their stand is. If there stand today is South, be rest assured I am aspiring, if they say North, I can’t do otherwise or they chose the option that everybody is free, then, of course, you will be hearing from me,” he said.
The former Governor of Anambra state who affirmed his commitment to building a better Nigeria, advised the party to choose a candidate who is competent and most importantly has integrity.
According to him, “What we are looking for in this country today are people of integrity, people of conscience, people who are less greedy. Educational qualification is not a measure of integrity; it doesn’t guarantee that somebody is less greedy or that people have conscience.”
He said , “I have seen people here acquire what they don’t need. I saw it while I was serving. To fight corruption here, you need somebody who has integrity, who is not greedy, who has conscience. If you have that, fighting corruption is easy, because, if you who is in charge is not stealing, you will reduce stealing by 50 to 70 per cent.”
“It is critical that you have somebody who is like that. It is not when people are acquiring lands, houses, everything they don’t need. They want to live a lifestyle that is far beyond the economy of Nigeria, far beyond their earnings, that is why the place is collapsing. That is why we have insecurity, that is why we have poverty.”
“We need to manage the costs efficiently and these are the critical areas as you people should know as you look for people who will govern the country in the future”, he stated.