Those demanding the arrest of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have been urged to stop immediately by the party’s youth leader.
Addressing a press conference in Owerri, Imo State, on Sunday, the National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, Prince Kennedy Ahanotu, flanked by other youth leaders, said Obi engaged in a modest campaign anchored on competence and strength of character.
Prince Ahanotu wondered why those who were declared winners in a poll, rather than celebrating, should be calling for the arrest of those who snatched their mandate.
He added that the Labour Party presidential candidate and the party have continued to be law-abiding in the pursuit of the recovery of their mandate. Ahanotu recalled that members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, were rather the ones who engaged in violence, citing the attacks on the Igbo in Lagos, the state of origin of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, as evidence.Â
The youth leader stated that no Yoruba or Hausa man was attacked in Anambra, the home state of Obi, during the presidential election, while noting that a Yoruba man won a House of Assembly seat in Abia State. He, therefore, questioned the rationale behind calling for the arrest of Obi while those who stoked violence walked free.
Ahanotu called on security agents to rise to their responsibilities and stop the attacks on the Igbo in Lagos. The youths passed a vote of confidence in the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, dismissing those calling for his suspension as hirelings of enemies.
On the House of Assembly election in Imo State, where APC candidates were declared winners of the entire constituencies, Ahanotu submitted that the incoming assembly will be a “sitting room” of the executive and not a parliament if constituted with only members of the APC.
The Youth Leader on behalf of the youths demands:
1. The various call for the arrest of Mr Peter Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed should stop forthwith as we the OBIdient Nigerian Youths have cast our final hopes on the Judiciary, and we shall be in the courts to observe every process for future reference.
2. The attacks, intimidation, and molestation of the Igbos in Lagos should please be stopped because such is an invitation to national instability. Nigerians must live as free citizens wherever they are in any part of this country.
3. The Nigerian security agencies should please employ a high level of professional conduct in executing their jobs and desist from being a ready tool in the hands of power-drunk politicians who have kept us below the bars of international standards.
The statement read partially, “Having stated the above as a matter of solidarity, we, therefore, pass vote of towering confidence on our National Chairman, Barr Julius Abure. We urge Nigerians to ignore any kind of selfish call for his suspension from disgruntled individuals. All the obidient family members are full of our celebrity National Chairman, who pioneered the journey of taking back our country.
“We the Obidient Youths also pass a vote of confidence on Nigeria’s Judiciary. We refuse to accept the insinuation that the Judiciary has been cowed and pocketed by powers that be to subvert justice and the popular wishes of Nigerians.
