Floods: Peter Obi Suspends Campaigns, To Visit Affected States

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), has suspended campaign activities over the floods ravaging many parts of the country.

Mr Obi has also called on the candidates of other political parties to suspend their campaigns and join him to help the flood victims.

He said this when he visited the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, in Abuja on Wednesday. His meeting with Mr Ortom was aimed at discussing modalities on his planned visit to flood sites in Benue and other states.

His call comes amid cases of floods that have hit parts of Nigeria in the last two months. Some affected states are Kogi, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau and parts of the Federal Capital Territory.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said about 2.5 million persons are affected and over 603 persons killed by the flooding caused by the rains.

Addressing journalists, Mr Obi said he expected other presidential candidates to show concern to the plight of victims of flooding, considering how millions were spent on nomination forms alone.

He said everyone must work hard irrespective of political differences.

“I stopped and told my people no more campaigns until we’re able to visit some of the sites and at least sympathise with victims,” he said.

He vowed to fix Nigeria’s challenges if elected as the next president.

On his part, Mr Ortom admonished Nigerians to go into the 2023 general elections with the mindset of electing the best presidential candidate among the top three candidates.

Mr Ortom, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said all three candidates – Bola Tinubu of APC, Atiku Abubakar of PDP and Mr Obi, are competent and asked Nigerians to select “the best among them.”

Nigeria, he said, “currently runs on oxygen and would need a hands-on and detribalised leader to restore hope, development and progress.”