Presidential hopeful Peter Obi has appealed to Northerners to support his ambition to unseat Bola Tinubu from office in 2027 and replace him as president, promising to cure their region of the plague of insecurity.

“If I become president, the North will celebrate me. I want them to trust me. The biggest asset in this country is in the North,” declared Mr Obi in an interview aired on Channels TV on Sunday night. “The uncultivated land is an asset. The criminality in the North today, I’ll deal with it. I have an idea of the problem. They can trust me.”

He added, “We have been voting for tribe and religion. Let’s vote for competence this time.” 

The former Anambra governor decried worsening insecurity under Mr Tinubu’s administration.

“On December 18 or thereabouts, several children died in Ibadan. On the 19th, the president of Nigeria flew from Abuja to Lagos. He has no compassion. He was not in Benue for days,” said Mr Obi, who contested against Mr Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. “He didn’t visit the scene where the incident took place. He has not gone to Niger State where we lost over 200 people. The president should be ready to die if the people are dying.”

The Labour Party politician accused Mr Tinubu of placing a premium on roads rather than on the lives of hapless Nigerians.

“Why commissioning roads when children (are dying)? Are roads more important than children not in school? He has no compassion,” stated Mr Obi.

He vowed to act differently if he becomes Nigeria’s president in 2027.

“I won’t do that. I’ll go and look for their parents. I will be in Mokwa and stay with the people. People want to get up and see a president that cares, a president that shows compassion,” the politician said.

Mr Obi took a swipe at Mr Tinubu for buying a presidential jet amid a disturbing lack of access to healthcare services and other basic social amenities in the country.

In April, the politician called on the European Union to give “special attention” to North-East and North-West geopolitical regions ravaged by “criminality and hardship.”

Despite his publicised concerns for the North, there are elements in the region vowing that “if he stands for election 1000 times, we won’t vote for him 1000 times.”