The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has once again rallied Nigerians to be united, saying the nation won’t make progress without unity.

Obi spoke on Sunday during an NDC Global Digital Townhall, where the former governor fielded questions on issues affecting Nigerians and the party’s strategies for the 2027 general elections.

According to the NDC presidential flagbearer, the impacts of bad governance cut across religious and ethnic lines, thus creating the need for unity across Nigeria.

“We need unity in our country. Today we are not united. We are divided along ethnic and religious lines, and to the best of my knowledge, no tribe buys bread cheaper; no tribe buys fuel cheaper; no religion buys bread cheaper; no religion buys fuel cheaper.

“The poverty that is in our country today spreads across the whole nation. No tribe is more secure than the other. Insecurity is all over the country. Same thing I have been saying.

“We need a president who will unite us. We need a president who will work tirelessly to secure the country,” the former Anambra State governor told the virtual gathering, which went live on Sunday evening.

He spoke days after gunmen abducted members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who were travelling from Ibadan in Oyo State to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The corps members were attacked in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.

Reacting to the incident, the NDC candidate decried the abduction, questioning the government’s posture over the kidnapping.

“And we are still campaigning for the next election? It should not be. Where were they kidnapped? Which bush did they take them to? Is it not in”Nigeria? Those phoning and demanding N1bn [as ransom] – are they phoning from outside Nigeria? No

“With available technology, we should be able to find where people who are doing bad things are. If they are in a bush in Nigeria, all of us should be able to go into that bush until everybody there is out. We cannot continue this way,” Obi said, calling for the strengthening of security agencies to flush out crime.

“We have security agencies. They must work. We must make sure we provide them with the logistics needed to work. We must make sure we are with them. We must make sure they are properly taken off, and their families are taken care of if anything happens to them if they are not available. We want a president who will lead from the front,” he said. (Channels TV)

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