Organised private sector group backs Peter Obi

A coalition of private sector groups has declared support for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. The group said it believes that Obi is the only presidential candidate in the forthcoming election who is keen on making private sector investment central to the national productivity agenda.

It made this known at the “Labour Party Agenda for the Private Sector” town hall meeting on Sunday, February 19, at the federal Palace Hotel in Lagos.

The event, which brought together multi-sectorial groups and industry players from oil and gas, telecommunication, banking, engineering, technology, education, entertainment, and others, converged to formally declare its support for the Labour Party candidate, whom they believe stands the best chance to turn the country’s economy around through business-friendly policies, given his track record in managing successful businesses as well as his display of prudent public resource management while he was governor of Anambra state.

The event had in attendance Pat Utomi, professor of political economics, and the Lagos State gubernatorial candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour.

Also in attendance were a list of top industry executives and former directors of banks, multinational institutions, top business executives, and entrepreneurs, as well as a large number of supporters of the Labour Party and the Obi/Datti Campaign.

The event, which was organised under the auspices of the Good Governance Advocates (GOGA), Southeast/South-South professionals, the United Nigeria Group, and the Square Peg Group, noted that it was not a partisan political movement but driven by the need to rebuild Nigeria while offering business leaders the opportunity to air their opinions and the chance to vote for Obi, who will bring about policies that will enable businesses to survive and recover from the already harsh economic environment.

Speaking at the event, the chairman of the occasion, who is the chairman of “The Big-Tent Obi-Datti Independent Campaign Council (BCC),” Emmanuel Ijewere, a foremost accountant and past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), said the Big Tent is a coalition of support groups for a Peter Obi and Datti campaign.

He noted that the Peter Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed campaign is a mass movement, not a political campaign.

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He remarked that nine different polls have so far confirmed Peter Obi as the leading candidate for president, saying that the opposition was in doubt that Peter Obi was leading in the public’s opinion. He also stated that the Obi/Datti campaign is motivated by Nigerians’ desire to reclaim their country, and that efforts are being made to secure the 176 000 polling units across the country.

He said that the Obi/Datti Campaign Management Council membership has over 60 percent members from the diaspora, and all of them are focused on taking Nigeria back. He called on all Nigerians who will be voting to do so, bearing in mind that they will be doing so in the interest and benefits of the diaspora, children, and others who cannot vote.

He said “the support for Peter Obi and Datti is not driven by what to gain but by the desire to turn Nigeria around. It is our wish that the child of nobody will become somebody without knowing anybody. You don’t change by changing others but by changing yourself.”

Noting that the Labour Party doesn’t believe in buying votes, however it will ensure that all the staff needed to manage the election will be adequately catered for. “No ‘shishi’ doesn’t mean that the party will not support party agents and is determined to support young people,” he said, adding that the electorate needs to be educated on how to vote as there is no picture of Peter Obi and Datti on the ballot but the picture of the party.

On his part, the Labour Party governorship candidate in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, said the Labor Party is on course to making history, stating that Nigerians were in the mood to make real change and to make history. “It’s about people choosing their leaders. This election is the only way we can get a new Nigeria. There is the hand of God in Peter Obi’s campaign,” Rhodes Vivour said.

He encouraged the electorates not to be scared of coming out to vote, as the security agencies are on top of their game with the goal of getting rid of troublemakers in the state. “Winning Lagos will be the ultimate victory for our democracy,” he insisted.

Utomi said he is optimistic Nigerians will succeed in electing a leader who will serve the people, stating that Obi and Baba-Ahmed are the two who will dedicate their lives to the public good. He noted that politics should lead to economic growth, saying that Obi understands that businesses are an important requirement and that his government will provide a good regulatory environment for businesses to thrive. “Nigeria needs a president that understands business, a president that can restore respect to Nigerians,” he said.

Other leaders and business executives from across industry agreed on the need to have a change of leadership and to bring on board a business-friendly president like Obi who will understand and address the plights of business people and corporations in Nigeria.