OPPOSITION arrowhead Peter Obi says he will contest for the office of the President in 2027, dismissing rumours that he will be running mate for Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I’m going to contest for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I believe I am qualified for it,” Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, said on Sunday Politics programme monitored by News Point Nigeria.
When asked whether he was considering becoming the running mate to Atiku, in the 2027 election, Obi said, “This is not in play; nobody has ever discussed that. People assume so many things. Nobody has ever discussed with me whether I am going to be A or B or C.”
The former Anambra State governor stressed that he remain a vibrant member of the Labour Party though he is an active member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition adopted by the opposition to unseat President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is eyeing a second term of four years in office in 2027.
“I am part of the coalition which will be able to produce a president with the capacity and compassion to save this country,” he said.
According to him, the greatest asset Nigeria has is in the 19 states domiciled in the northern region of the country, but the potential of the region with numerical voter strength and vast arable lands has been largely untapped because of the hydra-headed monster of insecurity.
Obi said, “We have voted for incompetence, we’ve voted for tribe, (and) we’ve voted for religion; let’s vote for competence.
“I want them to trust me. The biggest asset of this country is in the north, the uncultivated lands in the north. The criminality we face in the north today, I will deal with it.
“And I don’t need a day more than four years. I will show the direction of good governance,” Obi said, even as he announced that he would run for president in 2027, and not as running mate to any politician.
“In two years, there have been maximum damage. Two years can change it in good direction. People want to get up and see a president that cares, that shows compassion,” he said.
“In fact even some who have been in that government, their experience is critical,” Obi said when asked about a seeming contradiction of working with people who have failed the country in the past, even when he said he wants to reform the country.
“I can tell you one of the major companies in the world hired two people who have worked in failed companies because they can tell you why they failed.
“You need the experience of those who have failed and those who have succeeded to move on, and I need everyone. It is a critical experience because they know what can fail a system and they know what was wrong with the system.”
Asked whether he has accepted to be a running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 election in the new coalition arrangement, Obi said nothing of such has been discussed so far.