I’m not thief; I saved Anambra’s money, Peter Obi tells Tinubu

Peter Obi, Labour Party’s flag bearer, has condemned Bola Tinubu’s tirade against him for saving Anambra’s money while he was the governor of the state.

Mr Tinubu had excoriated the ex-Anambra governor’s so-called miserly disposition and accused him of impoverishing the people in the state, resulting in an exodus of Igbos “overcrowding” Lagos.

“It is a wicked parent like Peter Obi given the opportunity to feed the children but hoard money on his hands when the children starve and go to bed hungry,” Mr Tinubu said at a presidential rally in Ondo on Saturday. “That is Obi wickedness. It is true that the heartless governor will hoard money when there are hungry school children, roads and clinics are in disrepair.”

But speaking in a town hall meeting debate organised by Channels TV on Sunday night, Mr Obi said he was not a thieving politician, dismissing as a nonissue criticism that he saved funds while poverty ravaged Anambra. 

“I’ve challenged everyone to say, ‘Go and see whether there is anywhere a kobo of Anambra State money is missing.’ Saving has now become an issue,” stated the Labour Party presidential standard-bearer. “When people have stolen all the money and impoverished the country and you are now questioning a man who left the money without anybody telling me to leave it and go.”

Mr Obi added, “Let us talk about corruption. One of the things that are killing this country today is Corruption Perception Index, which is measured by how you manage public assets, nepotism, how you share the land, how you manage your money, and everything.”

Considered as a frugal administrator, Mr Obi anchors his campiagn on transforming Nigeria from a consumption to production country.

He goes to the ballot on February 25 to seek to become the country’s next president.