According to Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, Peter Obi, a presidential candidate on the Labour Party platform, imports "the majority" of the products Nigerians consume.
"I respect Peter Obi." "A gentleman, a former governor; a businessman who everyone knows has engaged in a variety of businesses, including the importation of the majority of the products we consume in the country today," said the Kogi governor.
Mr Bello was an All Progressives Congress presidential candidate who failed to secure the ruling party's nomination. The governor noted that the Labour Party's presidential candidate's "online agitation" would not translate into political mobilization at the grassroots level.
"He is doing well in his own right," the Kogi governor said, "but let me tell you: online agitation is not the same as grassroots movements and mobilization."
Mr Bello, who has been appointed as the youth coordinator for the Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima campaign council, revealed this in an interview with Channels TV on Monday.
Mr Obi, who has been described as the importer of the "majority" of foreign products consumed by Nigerians, has long advocated for the country to prioritize production over consumption.
"Nigeria must urgently stop borrowing for consumption and only borrow to invest in regenerative development projects and other productive ventures," Mr Obi stated in August. "It's ironic that states that received fiscal bailouts did not properly invest them; did not repay the loans; and are still borrowing beyond their revenue earnings."
The Kogi governor dismissed polls and reports that Mr Obi is a front-runner for the 2023 presidential election, while vowing to mobilize Nigerian youths in support of APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.