Peter Obi, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, has pushed back against President Bola Tinubu’s criticism of his erosion-control record in Anambra State, maintaining that he was instrumental in creating the program now being used to address the environmental challenge.
During an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, over the weekend, Tinubu had attacked Obi’s time as Anambra governor, claiming the former governor “ran away from erosion” while pointing to environmental projects carried out in Lagos.
But in an interview on Tuesday on Rhythm FM Jos, ahead of the NDC town hall meeting in Plateau State, Obi rejected the allegation as false.
The former Anambra governor said he collaborated with a former minister of environment to create the erosion-control program, which he said was later adopted after his intervention with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
“On what the president said while campaigning in Akwa Ibom, it’s not true. I, working with the former minister of environment, developed what they’re using today to fight erosion,” Obi said.
“I went to President Yar’Adua and made a suggestion to him. He called the minister and said he should go and develop it.”
Obi served as governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, a period in which the state confronted serious erosion problems.
During the Uyo rally, Tinubu had cast doubt on Obi’s readiness for the presidency, pointing to the erosion issue in Anambra as an illustration of what he called weaknesses in Obi’s governorship record.
Explaining why he visited Plateau State, Obi said the trip formed part of his habit of engaging with citizens and learning about their difficulties before starting campaign rallies.
He maintained that political candidates ought to first hear the concerns and experiences of the people and only then explain how they plan to tackle them.
The NDC candidate also named insecurity in central Nigeria as a key challenge, emphasizing the need to make sure residents could go back to their communities and run their businesses and farms without fear.
He stated that, if elected, his administration would give priority to public services, especially education and healthcare, along with insurance coverage for vulnerable Nigerians.
“Unless children go to school without fear, unless parents go to farms without fear, we don’t have a country,” he said.
“You cannot stay in a developing country and a developing world if you have poor health accessibility and poor education accessibility. Education and health are the foundation for development. I will invest in them.”
