2023: “I Cannot Sit On The Fence; Nigeria Is In A Desperate Situation; Why I Endorse Peter Obi –  Arunma Oteh

By Adesina Soyooye

Nigerian-born Arunma Oteh, economist, former Treasurer and Vice President of the World Bank, says she cannot sit on the fence in 2023 when it comes to who becomes Nigeria’s President.

Oteh, also, a former Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission, SEC, said Nigeria is in a desperate situation and therefore, no sitting on the fence over its future.

Oteh said this in a series of tweets, Sunday, while explaining why she has decided to endorse Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, as the man for Nigeria’s top job in 2023.

Said Oteh in one of her tweets: “My choice is unequivocal and this is based on Peter Obi’s stellar track record. I had the honour to serve with him on the Nigeria’s Economic Management Team chaired by the President and so my basis is not hearsay. He stands out, and Nigeria is in a desperate situation.

“The stakes for Nigeria are too high. I cannot, in good conscience, sit on the fence. The situation is desperate and Nigerians will need to work hard to #TakeBackNaija.”

In another tweet, Oteh submitted: “No country can afford corruption, and certainly not Nigeria, a nation of 200 million with 100 million living in poverty almost 62 years post-independence despite huge resources and enormous talent.”

Oteh, during her tenure as the DG of SEC, made waves for, among other things, sacking Professor Ndi Onyiuke-Okereke as the boss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and putting a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Herman Hembe, in his place when she appeared before Hembe’s Committee. Hembe never quite recovered from that encounter.

The 2023 Presidential election is seen as a three way race between three candidates – Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party.

In a first in the history of Nigeria, Obi is being heavily backed by most Nigerian youths.