Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, has criticised Peter Obi’s single-term presidency pledge, describing it as an attempt to practise what he called “chop and chop democracy”.
The former governor of Edo spoke on Monday in Calabar, the
Cross River state capital, at a rally organised by the All Progressives
Congress (APC).
The rally was attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and
other party leaders.
In May, Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria
Democratic Congress (NDC) said he would serve only one four-year term if
elected president, even if a gun were pointed to his head.
“I want to be a one-term president because of stability,” he
said during an interview on News Central Television.
“I would not stay a day longer than four years, even with a
gun to my head.”
‘WE WANT LEADERS WHO CAN SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE PEOPLE’
Oshiomhole questioned Obi’s ability to transform Nigeria
within four years, arguing that had had failed to fix Anambra during his eight-year tenure as
governor.
“For you to know what a child will be, you look at his
character as a younger person. Peter says he will govern for four years only,”
he said.
“If Peter Obi could not fix Anambra state in eight years,
how can he look you korokoro in the eye and say he only needs four years? It’s
just chop and chop democracy. We want leaders who can speak the truth to the
people.”
The senator also criticised former Vice-President Atiku
Abubakar, claiming he spends much of his time abroad and is disconnected from
the daily realities of Nigerians.
“Atiku says we should not go and pray. Alright. Atiku lives
in Dubai. He only comes home on the eve of every election. When he loses the
next election in February, he will be back in Dubai,” he said.
Oshiomhole said President Bola Tinubu had proved to be the
best among the presidential candidates, having demonstrated the courage to take
difficult decisions that many of his predecessors had shied away from.
He cited the recognition of Cross River as an oil-producing
state as one of the gains of Tinubu’s reforms, saying it would increase revenue
accruing to the state.
“Today under President Bola Tinubu, Cross River is
considered an oil-producing state. This is a structural change that will
forever increase revenue accruing to the state,” he said.
The former governor also cited the student loan scheme as an
intervention that would expand access to tertiary education, irrespective of
students’ family backgrounds.
He said 12,503 students in Cross River had benefited from
the scheme, adding that the initiative would ease the financial burden of
university education on parents.
He said the completion of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway
project would bring development to Cross River and several states.
He added that Tinubu’s removal of the multiple exchange rate
system had also ended the disparity between the rates available to privileged
individuals and ordinary Nigerians.
“Today, the rate of exchange in Calabar is the same rate in
my village that is not even on the map,” Oshiomhole said.
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