Politics
Peter Obi urges Nigerians to register, collect their PVCs to safeguard democracy
Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has urged Nigerians to take charge of their democratic rights by registering to vote and collecting their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
In a post on his X account on Monday, Obi emphasized the critical role that each citizen plays in shaping the future of the nation.
“The future of our dear nation is in your hands,” Obi declared. “The greatest strength of democracy is in the voter’s card. Your PVC is the voice of the voiceless, the shield of the weak, and the weapon of the poor for a better life, against injustice and bad leadership.”
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Obi’s message was clear: the power to effect change lies within the electorate. He appealed to every Nigerian to “Get Organised and Make Election Rigging Difficult,” encouraging them to actively participate in the electoral process. “Go out, register, collect your PVC, and hold it firmly as your bridge to a new Nigeria,” he urged.
Addressing the issue of vote-buying, the former Anambra state Governor warned that those who engage in such practices are not offering charity but are instead investing in their own corruption. “Let us know this: those who buy votes are not offering you charity; they only invest in their own corruption,” he stated.
He further explained that these individuals seek to gain access to public funds, which should be used for essential services like education and healthcare. “When they get into that office, they will loot the funds that should have been used to build schools, hospitals or provide good jobs,” he added, labeling these corrupt figures as “criminals in disguise.”
Obi also had a stern message for those who consider selling their votes. “To those who sell their votes, you are not just selling an election, you are selling the very opportunities that would have lifted you and your family out of poverty,” he cautioned. He highlighted the long-term consequences of such actions, stating, “You are selling the schools that your children should have attended, the hospitals that should save your loved ones and the jobs that would have given you dignity and a better life.”
Reiterating the importance of civic responsibility, Obi declared, “The power to change this country is in your hands, the looters will only loot when we give them the opportunity.” He emphasized that every vote counts, urging citizens to recognize the value of their participation in the democratic process. “If it doesn’t, they would not be desperately buying that vote,” he remarked.
In closing, Obi called on all Nigerians to rise and take responsibility for building the nation they envision. “Our democracy is at stake,” he warned, urging eligible citizens to register, collect, and safeguard their PVCs. “Vote for leaders of competence, character, capacity, and compassion. Leaders who will put you first. Do not be intimidated, do not be deceived, and do not be bought.”
“Let us stand together and prove that Nigeria belongs to the people, not to those who trade our future for their selfish gain,” Obi concluded. “Register to vote, because a new Nigeria starts with you.”
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
For Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s 14th leader, and the third President since 1999, the road is now clear, should he be interested to make a comeback to reclaim the office he lost to the late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
This is on the strength of a decision by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which hours ago, threw out a suit challenging the eligibility of the former President to make a go at the nation’s number one job, including that of 2027.
Peter Lifu, on Tuesday, held that JohnMary Jideobi, the plaintiff, who pursued the case of stopping the ex-President, lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having not suffered any loss from Jonathan’s perceived intention to vie in next year’s poll.
(AGF).
Lifu not only dismissed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, where Jideobi had prayed the court for an order restraining Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, but slammed him with a N20 million fine to be paid in favour of the ex-president, and N1million fine against in favour of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Against the backdrop of Jideobi’s argument was that Jonathan, having completed the tenure of the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later served a full term after the 2011 elections, he had exhausted the constitutional limit of two terms in office, Lifu described it as a waste of time.
He also dismissed the plea that the court should restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate in the 2027 elections or any future presidential poll, insisting that the matter had earlier been litigated upon with a judicial pronouncement made on it.
Referring to the decision of a Federal High Court, Yenagoa which had previously dealt with a similar matter and the concurrence of the Court of Appeal, affirming Jonathan’s eligibility, Lifu, who earlier refused to recuse himself from the matter, said he was bound by both, dismissed the latest attempt as “an abuse of court process.”
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