The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, has rejected the idea of being part of a government of national unity in the face of the disputed presidential poll.
Obi, who is seeking legal redress on the outcome of the election, said that he will first challenge the process that led to the announcement of the results and the declaration itself before they can talk of the government of national unity.
This was made known by Peter Obi while featuring as a guest on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday, where he maintained that the process through which you achieve anything is far more fundamental than what you do thereafter.
We need to get the process right
Peter Obi during an interview on the programme said,
- ‘’The first thing I want to see is that the process is right, the process through which you achieve anything is far more fundamental than what you do thereafter. I can’t come into Channels now, where somebody has worked hard, all of you, build a team, work hard and take it over, then say I’ll run it better, increase your salaries, start doing things better than Chief Momoh and you say that’s tight, but I didn’t work hard for it.
- ‘’Let us go back first and challenge the process and the declaration. Until we get it right then we can talk about the government of National unity, otherwise, we will go and sit down and say that the people who stopped the train and kidnapped people can also invite us to come and discuss peace when they are holding people in captive.’’
When asked if he is open to collaboration with the ruling party, Peter Obi said,
- ‘’No, Let’s get things right. That’s where we’ll start, until things are done rightly, you cannot, we are encouraging what we don’t need to encourage.’’
What you should know
- Given the polarised nature of the country along ethnic and religious lines, there have been calls from several groups and individuals for a government of national unity to help bring everybody together and address the country’s challenges.
- The president-elect, Bola Tinubu, in his acceptance speech after he was declared winner in the February 25 presidential election, extended a hand of friendship to his rivals in the presidential contest and pushed for an inclusive government.