Security agents silently arresting my supporters – Peter Obi
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has alleged random arrests of his supporters by security agents.
“Recent reports of OBIdients being silently arrested by some security agents is extremely disturbing and condemnable,” Obi said, but without giving details.
Obi equally urged security agencies to ensure their “operatives respect civil liberties (sic).
“We must ensure that everyone is given a level playing field in the forthcoming elections, and that no eligible Nigerian, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation is disenfranchised, more so through violence and intimidation. I call on the Federal and State agencies to remind their operatives on the need to respect civil liberties,” he said.
On his economic agenda, Obi, as quoted in a statement by his media organisation, said he would “reduce governance cost and corruption.”
“We shall pursue a drastic reduction in cost of governance and corruption; Improve ease of doing business to attract FDI to jumpstart industrialization and when borrowing is unavoidable, it will be strictly for regenerative purposes and production,”
On energy, Obi said, “We will aggressively support the private sector to invest in the power chain through a multifaceted approach particularly the transmission infrastructure.
“As we all know, two components of the power sector (generation and distribution) have been privatized and liberalised leaving the most critical component (transmission) in the hands of government which is causing inefficiency and darkness.
“We will, therefore, vigorously pursue the liberalization of the transmission infrastructure in addition to a robust power mix- embedded power and renewable energy.”
Obi’s privatization agenda runs contrary to the agitation of the organised labour on which platform he is contesting the presidency. The Nigerian Labour Congress and its affiliates unions have consistently opposed previous and incumbent governments privatization policies. Strangely, the NLC has yet to comment on its standard bearer’s plan.
