Nigeria's Peter Obi Defends Manifesto Delay

Peter Obi, a candidate in February’s presidential election in Nigeria, says he is waiting for the positions of labour unions – the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – before releasing his manifesto.

Mr Obi, a candidate of the Labour Party, has been criticised for not releasing his policy plans before campaigns opened two weeks ago, which critics said signalled unpreparedness for office.

But Mr Obi told the BBC that Nigeria was not bereft of ideas or documented policies, rather it had an "institutional weakness and political will to implement good ideas and policies".

Of the three frontrunners that also includes Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), only Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released a document of how he intends to lead Nigeria if elected.

Mr Obi, a two-time governor of Anambra state in south-east Nigeria where there are agitations by groups that want a breakaway Biafra state, said he is a firm believer in Nigeria and that his solution for the different “agitations across the country,” is to have dialogue and reach a consensus.

He said Nigeria’s number-one priority is the issue of insecurity because it has become an existential one “that must be dealt with head-on decisively”.

“If you deal with it [security] today, you deal with inflation because farmers would go back to farms and that would reduce food inflation,” he said.

You can hear the full interview on Focus on Africa radio on the BBC World Service from 17:00GMT, or watch Focus on Africa TV on BBC World News at 17:30GMT.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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