Ondo 2024: Obi campaigns in Akure, urges voters to shun vote trading

Mr Obi urged voters not to succumb to the vice of trading their votes for gifts in Saturday's election.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has called voters to shun vote trading ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.

He also expressed concerns over the operation of democracy in Nigeria, saying it has been turned into a mere transitional politics.

Mr Obi, who lamented that democracy in the country is suffering, disclosed that everyone must be involved in the rebuilding process of Nigeria.

The former Anambra State Governor spoke during the governorship campaign rally of the LP in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Monday.

He urged voters not to succumb to the vice of trading their votes for gifts in Saturday’s election.

“We are here for the campaign of the gubernatorial election coming up on Saturday. We know democracy is suffering in Nigeria; we know they’ve turned democracy into transitional politics, but we still insist that we continue to campaign and tell Nigerians that this is time to start building a new Nigeria,” he said.

“A Nigeria where a child of nobody is somebody, a Nigeria where there will be equal opportunity, a Nigeria where we put people out of poverty, a Nigeria where our children will be in school, where our hospitals will work.

“We don’t want people to give us money that they’ve stolen from us, and thereafter, they continue to steal more. We want to stop the stealing and start the rebuilding; we want to stop the destroying and start the rebuilding; we want to move this country from consumption to production so we can create jobs. That’s why we are here campaigning.”

LP candidate speaks

The governorship candidate of the party in the state, Sola Ebiseni, described LP as the only party that can transform the state.

He said: “Labour Party is the most popular political party in Ondo State. This is a party that the people of Ondo State voted for twice and was in power in this state between 2009 and 2017.

“Our programmes and policies and even projects are everywhere, and you know it. Everywhere you go in Ondo State, all the projects you see are in the colour of the dress I am wearing. I am deliberately wearing the orange colour, which is the colour of the Labour Party and the colour you will see in every project.

“Our presidential candidate is here to give support and to let Nigerians know that the Labour Party is the party to vote for.”

Mr Ebiseni, formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party, moved into the LP after he lost the PDP primaries to Agboola Ajayi.

He is a former commissioner in the state.