Debate: 10 salient issues addressed by Peter Obi

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi addressed some salient issues at the presidential town hall session that held on Sunday.

Recall that Arise Television organised the town hall in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Democracy (CDD) at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

Aside from Peter Obi, other candidates present include Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP); Ifeanyi Okowa, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-Presidential candidate; and Kola Abiola of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

Here are points made by Peter Obi at the town hall:

1. On security challenges:

Peter Obi reiterated his earlier position that pulling people out of poverty is surest way to reduce criminality.

He said that Nigerians must in 2023, avoid electing persons who could not in their past, account for resources entrusted in their official care.

Obi said military experience was no prerequisite in tackling security challenges, that what was required was a good understanding of the problems and the ability to apply the right human and material resources for their urgent eradication.

2. On the oneness of the Office of the President and the Vice President:

The former Anambra State governor said the buck stops on the desk of the President, who is the single Commander-in-Chief, even though he works as a family with the Vice President.

However, interchangeability is not automatic, hence the President is required to formally hand over, in writing to his Vice if going overseas for an extended period.

3. On subsidy

Obi was emphatic on the issue of subsidy, saying that he will remove it, but invest the saved revenue properly, even as he insisted that oil theft is an organized crime which very much involves regulators.

4. On borrowing

Peter Obi said he has never been against borrowing, but said it must be for production, not for consumption and wastages in government must be blocked to boost revenue and manage the exchange rate.

5. Diversification of the economy

Obi said the economy was already diversified, but not enough attention had been made to boost production.

6. Devolution of power:

Obi said women and youth will be the engine of his administration if elected President and his record in Anambra State speaks for itself as women occupied critical positions in his administration as governor, including deputy governor, chief of staff, commissioners for finance, education etc.

7. Agriculture

Borno State has very low production of Agriculture in relation to its large mass of land, but he promised to make this a priority.

8. On Power

Obi said the production capacity is 12000kw, but this cannot be effectively transmitted, because the transmission capacity is not beyond 6000 kw. He then promised to increase the transmission infrastructure, by declaring war on the power sector.

9. Flood control

Obi said it was not impossible to effectively check it, if Egypt had made so much progress in flood control, with much bigger flood potential, the solution, he said, lies in the reappraisal of dredging and channeling solutions, many of which had been articulated in the past, but the funds wasted on corruption.

10. Wealth creation

Obi described himself as a wealth creator in his private life, and his public record, and he promised to apply the same principle, if elected to the Presidency.