LP will not merge with PDP – Obi

…Says Tinubu spent over 180 days travelling in 2024

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has dismissed rumours of a planned merger between the party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Obi, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Thursday, described the rumour as unfounded.

Obi, who was running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 election, dumped the PDP in 2023 to pick the LP presidential ticket.

Since then, however, the bond between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi has grown very strong with both going for public functions together.

Only recently, Obi delivered a special lecture at the American University, Yola, owned by Atiku, fueling more speculations that they may have decided to work together ahead of the 2027 general election.

Obi, who spoke to newsmen for the first time in 2025, also berated President Bola Tinubu for spending the greater part of 2024 travelling around the globe.

Obi described the political, economic and security situation of the country as “worsening daily, despite contrary positions and claims by the government of improvement in different spheres of human endeavour.”

“Our national challenges are visibly worsening. Our nation and its fortunes are in clear reverse. The indices are indicative of our decline.”

The former Anambra State governor said Nigeria has remained one of the poverty capitals of the world, with over 100 million people living in extreme poverty and more than 150 million in multidimensional poverty.

According to the Labour Party leader, the country’s situation has deteriorated significantly over the past 18 months under the current administration, as Nigeria remains one of the most insecure and least peaceful nations in the world.

He lamented that countless communities and families have been displaced from their homes and now living in IDP camps. According to the Global Peace Index (GPI), Nigeria ranks 143rd out of 163 countries in terms of peacefulness – an indication of a high level of distress.

Read also: Four LP lawmakers defect to APC

“Mr. President, out of the approximately 580 days you have been in office, it is reported that you have spent over 30 percent, or around 180 days, on more than 30 publicly recorded overseas trips. My appeal is that you dedicate at least 20 percent of 2025 – roughly 72 days – visiting each of Nigeria’s 36 states for two days each. As president, such visits would allow you to better understand the dire economic and security situations across the country.

“As a nation, we have fallen from being the largest economy in Africa, with a GDP of $574 billion and a per capita income of over $3,500 in 2014, to now ranking fourth on the continent. Our current GDP is less than 50 percent of what it was a decade ago, standing at approximately $200 billion, with a per capita income of barely $1,000.

Obi, who also assessed the nation’s food supply system, added that “insecurity has become our new national norm, making Nigeria one of the hungriest countries in the world. Gainfully employed and middle-income Nigerians now spend nearly their entire incomes on feeding, with some even resorting to borrowing just to eat. For those living on the margins – low-income earners and the unemployed – the situation is even more dire.”

The former LP presidential candidate was, however, silent on a merger with the other political parties ahead of the 2027 general election.

Obi, who spoke on the minimum wage, described the N70,000 monthly minimum wage as inadequate to tackle hunger in Nigeria, adding that this “has recently led to several avoidable deaths. Nigeria’s ranking on the 2024 Global Hunger Index is 110th out of 127 countries, reflecting a critical level of hunger and food insecurity in the nation.

“We have earned the dubious distinction of being one of the countries with the largest number of people without access to electricity. In 2024, despite abysmal and unacceptable power generation and distribution, the frequency of national grid collapse increased significantly, with the grid failing 12 times in 12 months. As a result, we are now mockingly referred to as the “generator country.” This persistent lack of adequate energy supply continues to hinder our national development.”