Presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi has said he hasn’t rested since the election because ‘no serious leader would go on vacation with the way things are going on in Nigeria’.
Obi, while felicitating yesterday with the Muslim community in Awka, Anambra State, said his visit had nothing to do with politics.
The former governor, who was also at the Onitsha mosque on Sunday, said paying such visits should not only be borne out of political ambitions.
He said: “People who want to rest can go and rest. For me, I’m not resting. No serious leader will go and rest in Nigeria with the way things are today. We will continue to visit as many people as we can, and also support them in the best way we can.”
While donating foodstuff to the community, Obi promised to help them rebuild the mosque which was undergoing a facelift.
“I thank you for inviting me to celebrate with you. You wanted to come to my house instead, but I said it will be better for me to come and now that I have come, I have also seen that the mosque is undergoing reconstruction. I want to pledge here and now that I shall contribute to the work you have at hand, to ensure that you have a befitting place of worship.
“I am a Christian and you are Muslims, but we are all Nigerians, and Nigeria is one. It is only politics that divides us. But I have never seen any road being traveled by only Muslims. I have also not seen any market where Christians buy bread cheaper than Muslims. If you know such market, please tell me, let me go and buy.”
Leader of the Muslim community in Awka, Alhaji Musa Bello, who spoke on behalf of the community said Obi remains the only individual who has consistently visited them.
“I was among the Muslims you sponsored to Saudi Arabia during your tenure. You did not know me before you did it. You are a lover of all men, and you have been very beneficial to mankind,” he said.