The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has appealed to the Nigerian electorate to put aside ethnic and religious differences and vote for a patriotic Nigerian with the competence, capacity and character to address the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

Obi said this in a statement issued by the chief spokesman of the LP Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Tanko Yunusa.

The frontline presidential candidate spoke against the backdrop of the furore generated by the statement made in Kaduna by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

In a viral video, Abubakar said the North does not need to vote an Igbo or Yoruba candidate but a Northerner. Recall that the candidate of the All Progressive Candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu had earlier declared that it was the turn of the Yorubas to produce the president.

Obi urged Nigerians of all hues, creed and tribe to look beyond our tribes and tongues and vote for a presidential candidate who will transform Nigeria from consumption to production.

The former Anambra State governor noted that every Nigerian was bearing the brunt of the challenges of hunger, gross unemployment and World Poverty Capital, irrespective of religious affiliation, ethnic cleavages or geographical location.

He said, "There is insecurity everywhere in our dear country, Nigerians in the East, West, South and North are being terrorised by insurgents and bandits and we have witnessed killings and kidnapping nationwide.

"Obi is a solution provider and will if voted into power transform Nigeria to a progressive, united and prosperous nation."