ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Forty-eight hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo officially endorsed Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate, another elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has endorsed Mr. Obi as his candidate for the February 25 presidential election.
Clark, a former Federal Commissioner for Information and a South-South leader, spoke at a news conference in his Abuja home.
He said that with the former governor of Anambra State as president, Nigeria would become a united country.
The octogenarian also noted that one who must be the next president of the country must be educated and experienced, just as he said that South East should be allowed to produce the next president because the zone has resourceful and educated people to govern the country.
He said he had been fully briefed on the successful outcome of a recent interaction. He said “Amongst other things, I have taken note of the following observations which came out of the meeting: That PANDEF presented the expectations and demands of the peoples of the Niger Delta, comprising infrastructural development, devolution of power, resource control, effective and inclusive participation in the oil and gas sector, amongst other things, to the presidential candidate.
“That the vision statement shared by His Excellency Peter Obi at the occasion, as it relates to making Nigeria more productive, using the rich resource endowment in every part of the country; curbing waste and fighting corruption; and creating jobs for our teeming youths through innovative initiatives is very commendable.
“That his restated commitment to restructuring and devolution of power, will promote harmony, peaceful coexistence amongst the states and constituent parts of the country.
“That his vision for more equity and justice as it pertains to the South-South region, which in the past sixty years has produced much of the revenue for the national economy, but has been neglected with little impact in terms of infrastructure and social development, is convincing and commendable.
“Peter Obi’s commitment to environmental justice to the clean up of the Niger Delta polluted communities is most welcomed, given that even the ongoing Ogoni clean-up has been rather slow.
“His commitment to inclusion of qualified persons from the Niger Delta in the national governance process in the future government if elected into power is very reassuring.”
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom also on Tuesday backed Obasanjo in endorsing Peter Obi Ortom is one of five aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) known as the G5 or Integrity Group. Others are Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
The governors have refrained from campaigning for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar amid opposition to the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu coming from the same region as the standard bearer.
Ortom’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Terver Akase, in a statement on Tuesday, said the governor “strongly recommends Peter Obi to Nigerians as the man who has the capacity to effectively tackle the economic, security and other challenges facing the country.”
Akase noted that the governor is convinced that Obi “possesses the qualities of a leader who will be a true President of this country by guaranteeing justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians.”
Ortom said the President that Nigeria needs at this “challenging time” in its history is one who understands the urgent need to unite the people and speedily initiate policies and actions to redirect the ship of the nation on the path of growth and development.
According to him, Peter Obi has all those qualities.
