The Obi/Datti Media Office on Monday said the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, outperformed other presidential candidates with facts and figures during the presidential debate on Sunday night.
The Presidential TownHall Meeting was organized by Arise Television, Center for Development and Democracy, and other partners in Abuja.
In a statement on Monday, the Obi/Datti Media Office said Obi outshined others with his consistent statistical analysis that was confirmed by the fact check team, led by the Premium Times.
Aside from Obi; Rabiu Kwakwaso, of New Nigeria Peoples Party and Kola Abiola of the Peoples Redemption Party, all attended the townhall meeting, while the ruling All Progressive Congress flagbearer, Bola Tinubu, was conspicuously absent at the debate.
The statement read, “The meeting started with an uproar, as supporters of other presidential candidates insisted that Governor Okowa must step down, since the meeting was for presidential candidates only, however, calmness was restored after several appeals.
“The Labor Party presidential candidate 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.
“Obi, speaking on security challenges, maintained that pulling people out of poverty is the surest way to reduce criminality.
“He stated that military experience was no prerequisite for tackling security challenges and 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.
“Responding to a question on the oneness of the Office of the President and the Vice President, Obi 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.
“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.
“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.
“On diversification of the economy, Obi asserted that the economy was already diversified, but not enough attention had been made to boosting production
“On 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 a deputy governor, chief of staff, commissioners for finance, education etc.
“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.
“On 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.”
