The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has indicated that the conviction of his campaign Director General, Mr Doyin Okupe cannot break his resolve to be Nigeria’s president come 2023.
Obi stated this on Monday during an interactive session with journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
A statement by Obi/Datti media office signed by Duran Onifade indicated that the Labour Party standard bearer said he is undaunted by the conviction of Okupe over alleged money laundering.
“I am hearing about it (the conviction) just like you. I am still studying what is coming out of the courts and everything. I believe in the rule of law. It is not going to demoralize me.
“Today when I arrived Akwa Ibom somebody asked me why I haven’t been using my aircraft because it has been grounded and all that and I said to him that nothing demoralizes me.
“In my life I have never stayed where they dropped me otherwise I would have been where they dropped me before. This election if they like let them say anything about people who are around me. I will get there”.
On the impression that he does not have political structure to win the presidential election, he said he was determined to dismantle the existing political structure in the country which encourages corruption and spreads poverty among Nigerians.
“The structure they have today is the structure we want to destroy. It is the structure of criminality. It is structure that produced 133 million people living in poverty, it is the structure that produced 20 million out-of-school children.
It is the structure that has made Nigeria surpass India in infant mortality. It is the structure that will destroy Nigeria and we want to destroy that structure”, he said.
The LP presidential candidate said if elected president he will work towards the realization of the Ibaka Deep seaport in Akwa Ibom State.
Obi maintained that he intends to make Nigeria a country of production rather than a consumer Nation, noting that over-dependence on crude oil is what has destroyed the country.