The media team of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, have responded to the allegation, that Obi’s statistics are lies, made by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, saying that the latter does not appreciate facts and figures used by opponents in place of mere rhetoric.
The PUNCH reported that, the Obi-Datti Media Office, in a statement made on Sunday, said it noted the attempts by Tinubu and his party to cast aspersions on the informed use of statistics by his counterpart, Obi, declaring that the APC candidate could not stand Obi’s statistics.
Recently, Tinubu had said at a rally in Gbaramatu, Delta State, that Obi lied with figures, describinh Obi as a man that was not wanted by Nigerians because “he lies with arithmetic that no mathematician can solve.”
“To mention his name is a disgrace to me. He gives out wrong arithmetic and wrong statistics on the economy. That is not what Nigerians want. Nigerians need honesty, they need the man who knows the road to take, and that man is me,” Tinubu stated.
Responding further, Obi team stated the LP candidate was brimming with practicable ideas and was demystifying electioneering rhetoric by employing simple facts and figures in his campaigns. “Providing the numbers shows Obi’s preparedness for the high office of the President if and when hired by Nigerian voters come 2023.”
“We are aware of the inability of some runners in the presidential race to cope with Obi’s speed and deep knowledge of issues. “This has resulted in a grand design to distract his focus from the issue-driven campaigns which are resonating very well with Nigerians who are ready and committed to taking back their country from forces that have held it down over the years.
“Our candidate has said repeatedly that his assertions were verifiable and dared anybody with contrary facts and figures to come up. Analysts, media houses, and opponents have formed fact-checking units in their organisations ostensibly to contradict Obi’s facts and figures.
“The acceptable mantra is always if you can’t beat them join them, but in Nigerian politics, the reverse is the case: if you can’t beat them pull them down. That is what Obi’s opponents who cannot cope with his deep know-how about the economy are doing.”