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Ex-Anambra State Governor and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Peter Obi, has said his position will not clash with that of the state governor, Willie Obiano, if elected into office.
Obi said this in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Val Obienyem, on Saturday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
He said his job and that of the governor of Anambra would be parallel and complementary, adding that the interest of the people of Nigeria would override all other considerations.
According to Obi, while Obiano will pilot the affairs of people of Anambra, he will be in Abuja ensuring that the Federal Government carries out its obligation to the generality of Nigerians.
He stated, “While he works on state roads, for example, the Federal Government will work on federal roads, the Second Niger Bridge and other federal projects.
“In matters like this, the welfare of the people should be the leading principle and our individual concern. I thank God that all the Igbo leaders we visited are on the same page. From our interactions with them, it is clear they see it as a task that requires unity of purpose because its success will be ours as well as that of the entire country.”
Obi said Nigerians should eschew hatred towards one another and realise that every part needed the other for better welfare of all.
“Now is not the time for exhibition of hate,” he said.
Recall that Obi, a two-term governor of Anambra on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, was instrumental to the victory of Obiano in 2014.
There has been no love lost between the two politicians following seeming misunderstandings. Obi backed a PDP candidate, Mr Oseloka Obaze, against Obiano during the state 2017 governorship poll.
Obi’s statement was in response to questions on how his relationship with his successor would not conflict with their official positions if elected after he met with the National President of Ohanaeze and some political stakeholders in the South-East.
Meanwhile, an Igbo youth group, New Generation Vanguard, has asked the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, and others allegedly opposed to Obi’s nomination as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate in 2019.
Speaking at a press briefing in Awka, Anambra State, on Saturday, the group’s leaders, Chinemerem Oguegbe and Nonso Okoye, said Igbo youth would not take it lightly with anybody who would plunge the Igbo nation into another era of deprivation and marginalisation.
The group warned those who claimed to be leaders of the PDP in the South-East to stop arrogating the leadership of the Igbo to themselves.
[Punch]
