By Taiwo Ajala
Delta state governor and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa has come under fire for his comments questioning Peter Obi’s credentials and experience to be president.
Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), who took the Delta governor to task also asked him to retract his statement.
Baba-Ahmed spoke on Monday in an interview with Channels Television.
Okowa, had in an interview with the BBC Pidgin said Obi does not have the requisite experience to be president. He said: “His (Obi) previous experience is not enough for this one (presidency). It will be hard. His experience is not deep enough.”
But Baba-Ahmed said Obi is the most qualified among the candidates of the four leading candidates vying for the presidency.
“That is absolutely untrue. In fact, I beg you to show me anyone who has had more leadership experience in the 2023 contest. By that contest, I mean the candidates that we have — the four leading candidates.
“I fail to see anyone who even comes close to his excellency, Peter Obi. The world is now at the stage where we need private sector experience and among all of them, no one has much private sector business sense, prudence, frugality, ability to manage persons, communities, interest groups. None of the other three has as much.
“That comment is a very unfair comment, and I will like to think that very soon, the maker of that comment will have to retract because it shows that he has no idea about what capacity is.
“Apparently, we were in the senate together. We used to sit not too far away. I have a lot of respect for him, but I least expect him to misread what capacity is. When you speak of capacity, you are talking of people like Peter Obi and with all modesty, my humble self.”
