· ‘Obidients’ protest against Okowa
· NNPP plans 1 million army
· We are selling trust – LP
· We offer something different – PRP
By Emmanuel OGBECHE & Sarah NEGEDU
Presidential candidates of the Labour Party, LP, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, and vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, sparred at a townhall meeting on Sunday organised by Arise TV with the Nigeria Union of Journalists and Nigeria Guild of Editors.
The presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu, was absent and no reason was given for the absence.
The townhall started on a dramatic note as supporters of Mr. Peter Obi, candidate of the LP protested against the presence of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, vice-presidential candidate of the PDP, in place of the candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
For nearly 10 minutes, Mr. Obi who was supposed to give his opening remarks could not speak as his supporters threatened to take him out of the venue.
The anchor, Dr. Reuben Abati called on Mr. Obi to call his supporters to order, which he tried to wriggle from.
However, calm was restored when he started speaking and the townhall went on smoothly.
In his opening remarks, Senator Okowa said the organisers gave the nod for his representation as the presidential candidate was out of the country, therefore, there was nothing amiss to his being present.
On the issue of insecurity, Kwankwaso of the NNPP said the existing number of military personnel was inadequate, stating that his party plans for 1 million personnel for the military, police 2 million and an opportunity for those in NYSC to be drafted into the military.
Mr. Obi of the LP said he will pursue a three-level policing – federal, state and local government backed by investment in micro businesses to take the large pool of youths out of unemployment.
On oil theft, Obi said it was by people in government and that cannot continue. “It is a crime that will be dealt with decisively.”
Mr. Abiola said if the country is a market driven economy, then investment in the capital market will be pursued, backed by massive infrastructural development while subsidy will be for production and not consumption.
Kwankwaso said stealing will be stopped from the presidency to the civil service. According to him, subsidy is riddled with corruption which needs to be addressed. He stressed that the welfare of the people was vital and will not be removed immediately.
The PDP candidate said that subsidy was scam-riddled and can be addressed with the refineries working as well as modular refineries. He expressed regrets that loans were being sourced to pay for everything.
On oil theft, Okowa said a pipelines surveillance driven by technology will aid in addressing the problem.
