The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said the Nigerian youths, when made productive, would change the country and restore its “squandered” glory.

Obi said he and his running mate, Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed, are in the presidential race for the Nigerian youths who have been ignored and neglected over time to the detriment of society.

The LP presidential candidate said this at a summit held at International Conference Centre in Abuja on Thursday.

The former governor of Anambra State said every part of Nigeria, including the Sambisa forest was virgin agricultural land waiting to be harnessed.

According to a statement issued by his media office, Obi assured Nigerian youths that power would be returned to them when he and his running mate “come to power through their selfless efforts”.

Obi said: “Nigerians would no longer allow drivers that don’t know where we are going to lead the country. Our main mission is to wrestle power from those who hold it presently and return it back to the people of Nigeria

“The only way to create a new Nigeria is to make people have hope in the leadership.

“God has given us everything in this country, the only thing that is lacking is leadership. And that is what we intend to provide. We are not trying to do something else. Leadership is what Datti and I want to provide. We are not looking for anything.

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“In 2023, we will no longer allow drivers that don’t know where we are going. We will remove that driver. We will not allow him to continue. We will put another driver to continue because what we have now, and what is happening in Nigeria is that you don’t know where you are going, the driver doesn’t know where the vehicle is going,” Peter Obi stated.

In his remarks, the LP vice-presidential candidate said the record of performance of Obi in Anambra State where he held sway for eight years should give Nigerians hope that with Labour Party in power, the country would be saved.

Baba-Ahmed, who called for calm and vigilance ahead of the 2023 general election, cautioned election riggers to “sheath their sword and allow the voice of the people to prevail”.

He added: “We do not take anything from anybody for campaign. We are not looking for money in government. We are looking for how to manage government money by following a serious leader who knows how to create wealth.

“I am following a leader who has nothing to achieve again in this life except to see a peaceful and prosperous nation.

“It pains me when a uniform staff of a Federal Government of Nigeria, in broad daylight, will collect money. Each time I see it, my heart breaks. That similar act is a bad $20 billion scandal and it happens every day. We are going to end it. We are going to change it.”

On his part, the Labour Party National Chairman, Julius Abure, boasted that the party would win the 2023 presidential election, adding that the party was on “a  rescue mission”.

The former trade union activist regretted that the country was tilting towards collapse as a result of insecurity and failing economy.

Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of Obi/Datti Campaign Organisation, Dr Doyin Okupe, warned that “Nigerians would suffer if the country continued on the same path”.

Okupe, however, said the target of the Labour Party was to mobilise to ensure that everyone at the polling stations voted for the LP.

The Star