Peter Obi blasts Buhari, FG over Nigeria's failure to qualify for 2022 World Cup

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party has decried the fact that Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup scheduled to take place in Qatar on November 20.

Speaking during the flag-off of his 2023 presidential campaign in Lafia Nasarawa state on Saturday, the former governor of Anambra state warned that it is not in Nigeria’s best interest to miss out on the 2022 World Cup.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after the Super Eagles played a 1-1 draw against the Black Stars of Ghana.

This led to chaos at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja where the match was played after fans invaded the football pitch causing trouble.

The fans also vandalised the recently refurbished facility in protest leading to sanctions by FIFA, the international football body.

However, expressing his regrets, Obi said should he emerge victorious in the forthcoming presidential election in 2023, his administration will invest heavily in sports and information technology.

He assured Nigerians that he would work with his running mate, Yusuf Datti-Baba Ahmed to ensure that the right resources in terms of finances are invested in sports.

His words: “A country like Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, we did not qualify for the World Cup.

“Both of us (Peter Obi and Yusuf Ahmed Datti-Baba) will put money into sports.

“We will go to the World Cup always. We will put money into ICT. How can they play the World Cup without Nigeria? That cannot be.”