Tinubu taunts Obi in Awka saying he will deny his promises like Peter denied Jesus three times in the bible

NIGERIA'S ongoing presidential campaign has heated up over the last week with former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu mocking one of his rivals Peter Obi by quoting the bible saying he denied Jesus three times.

Next month, Nigeria goes to the polls, holding presidential, gubernatorial and National Assembly elections as well as electing members of the 36 state houses of assemblies. In the presidential race, the frontrunners include former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi, the former Anambra State governor of the Labour Party.

With the temperature rising as the February 25 date looms, Asiwaju Tinubu used the occasion of a campaign rally in Akwa the Anambra State capital, to taunt Governor Obi. At the event he promised to fix the erosion menace ravaging Anambra State, saying he will handle the perennial challenge like he tackled the Lagos Atlantic Ocean problem.

Speaking at Dr Alex Ekwueme square in Awka, Asiwaju Tinubu said he was not like the one they called Peter in the bible that denied Christ three times before the cock crowed in the morning. He added: “What that means is that I’m a thinker, I’m smart and I’m a doer.”

Among other things, Asiwaju Tinubu assured youths of job opportunities, promising to convert Anambra State into one of the nation’s economic centres. He added that he was in Anambra State to publicise the promise of development, exploration and industrialisation for which Anambra is known.

Asiwaju Tinubu said: "You know me, the Lagos boy, I tamed the Atlantic Ocean and the same way we will check erosion in Anambra. We’ll make the value of your property one thousand times your investment, we’ll create jobs for our youth, industrialise and make the state one of the economic centres.

"For 16 years, PDP lied, sharing our assets among themselves in the name of privatisation. The city boy is here, joy, happiness, prosperity and good employment are here. Just make sure your PVC is intact. With me in Lagos, I didn’t discriminate, your PVC is your mandate.

“When Atiku said he is the only candidate from the north. Is that not a division among us? When I started paying West African Examination Council (Waec) for students, I didn’t discriminate, I paid for everybody, whether Christian or Muslim.

 “I brought your son and made him my friend. I didn’t say he’s not a Muslim. Instead, he became the economic adviser to Buhari. He’s Charles Soludo, I salute his vision, he’s a brilliant man, he a thinker, he knows the way, we’ll work together, inclusively.

“When I’ll become the president, the way you voted for Soludo is the way you’ll vote for me. The man who led here, that calls himself Peter Obi, just like the biblical Peter, who denied Jesus before the cock crew three times, will deny all the promises he made you."