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Nigeria’s Political Class Spending Dollars On Delegates Are Not Smart, Can’t See They Will Be Slaughtered By Masses If Things Don’t Change – Pat Utomi

Utomi who stepped down as an aspirant on Monday for the former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, made the statement while explaining why he stepped down for Obi who joined the party last week after resigning his membership from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on May 24.

The former Labour Party (LP) presidential aspirant, Professor Pat Utomi, has said that no administration in Nigeria’s history has ever excluded him from activities of governance the way President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has done.

Utomi who stepped down as an aspirant on Monday for the former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, made the statement while explaining why he stepped down for Obi who joined the party last week after resigning his membership from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on May 24.

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“We did everything to bring the All Progressives Congress (APC), to power but the night after the election, they considered us dangerous because we can ask questions. That was the last day I heard from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. No government has ever excluded me from even listening to my ideas in Nigeria’s history more than Buhari’s government. None!

 

“It shows how afraid they are of the truth. See what they have done to Nigeria. We fought for an anti-corruption government but ended up with the most corrupt government in Nigeria’s history,” he said in an interview with VANGUARD.

 

On why he stepped down for Obi, Utomi said he took the decision following Obi’s statement where he said, “Sorry, I am not going to use dollars to go to party primaries.”

 

Utomi said, “So, my recognising Peter Obi was because of the statement he made. And that is a worthy statement to make.”

 

The political economist faulted the extravagant way delegates spent dollars and others during primaries, saying, “If you treat issues as ‘business as usual’ and make party conventions where they exchange dollars, you are essentially inviting a bloody revolution.

 

“In other words, the political class is inviting a bloody revolution. They are not smart at all. They can’t even see that if things continued like this that they would be slaughtered in the streets of Nigeria.”

 

Utomi, who also lamented the current state of the country, said that Nigeria is in a desperate situation and therefore needs a leader who is young with inclusive ideology and morality to restore peace and order in the country.

 

He said, “We have to look at the bigger picture. Our country is in a desperate situation. Nigeria is on the verge of collapse. From the point of view of finance, Nigeria is purely bankrupt. States are not paying salaries. Ostensibly, we have spent over N400 billion on so-called subsidies this year and very few people are willing to lend to Nigeria.

“The corruption in the system is frightening that every part of that so-called subsidy is corruption. We don’t have the political courage to do what should be done so we are rotten in that territory. And as a country, we are economically crippled.

 

“When we come to security, more people are killed in Nigeria every day than in anywhere in the world. So, Nigeria is in a rolling civil war even though it pretends that it’s not in a war.

 

“In terms of moral order, Nigeria has collapsed. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been on strike for months and students are out of the universities. All the money these lecturers are asking for to fix the system is a small fraction of what one man stole.

 

“I have been in this struggle for nearly 50 years, next year it will be 50 years since I have been organising students to topple the student union. I have struggled for 50 years to make Nigeria a better country and I am not complaining that I lost continually but I am more worried that despite my efforts, Nigeria is about to go under. So, what is bigger than one more effort if that would help turn Nigeria around?

 

“Peter is younger than I and he would have more energy to do more of these things than me. Secondly, Peter respects my opinion. He comes to me, calls on me even when he was the governor of Anambra State. I thank God I can pay my bills, and have a roof over my head, which is the most important thing about life.

 

“Nigerian politicians are yet to discover the beauty of a simple life. Politicians are not supposed to be rich men. They are supposed to be people who humbly give up themselves to advance the common good. Ghanaian highlife musician Ben Brako made this immortal statement: ‘If you see a country where their politicians are richer than their businessmen, you see a country which is about to collapse.”

 

“Nigeria is a classic example of a country where their politicians are richer than their businessmen. Businessmen have to go cap-in-hand to the politicians so that their businesses can continue to exist. That is a country that wants to collapse and we want to pull out our country from that brink.

 

“For me, if Nigeria is to have any hope of progress, the starting point is to stop the APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from being relevant in Nigerians’ lives.

 

“So, I felt we should pull energy to achieve the same goal rather than forcing it. I have invested over three years of my life trying to proclaim the Labour Party and make it a platform for workers on how Nigeria is governed. Peter Obi has been able to catch the attention of young people. So, I choose to take on the position of the leader of the party.

 

“Like I said in Asaba, I chose to become the Group Managing Director and Peter is the Managing Director, MD, because he is younger than me, he has more energy and in my role as GMD, my job is to build the big tent to get the other parties to join us so we can redeem our country through that.”

 

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