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Peter Obi, Vice Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections has described the defection of governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State to the All Progressive (APC) as not worth the focus of Nigerians when the country is battling economic recession.
His remark comes days after Umahi alleged that Anyim Pius Anyim, former Secretary to the Federal Government and National Assembly members have stabbed him in the back by failing to decamp to the APC.
Umahi said the plan was for Anyi and others to join him in the ruling party after two weeks of his defection.
Reacting to the claim, Anyim who alleged threat to his life, described Umahi as pitiably delusional, noting that the governor was a prisoner of his greed and a drowning man looking for who to drag down with him.
However, Obi while appearing on programme on Arise Television, said he had been mute on Umahi’s defection because the country had more important economic challenges to solve. He added that it would be unfair to ordinary Nigerians if their political leaders focused on such trivial issues as defection when a greater percentage of the population were increasingly finding it difficult to put food on their tables.
He said, “As of today, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. We have the highest number of out-of-school children. Our unemployment rate is skyrocketing every day, foodstuffs prices are soaring higher and people are dying of hunger. Would it be fair for us to turn blind eyes to all these challenges facing our people and occupy ourselves with who leaves a particular political party or who does not?” Obi asked.
“How many people have been pulled out of poverty by Umahi’s defection? Will Nigeria exit recession because Umahi left PDP? What economic value does Umahi’s defection to APC have on the average Nigerian on the street who is struggling to put food on their table? We must not be distracted by political movements at this time. Anyone is free to belong to any political party. Our common focus should be saving our economy and making our governance fruitful and productive.”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.