Peter Obi, the Labor Party’s presidential candidate, has said that if he is elected president of Nigeria, his administration will ensure that the green passport becomes the pride of the citizens.

Speaking at Chatham House on Monday, the presidential hopeful assured that his administration will work to get young people and other citizens who have fled the country back.

Obi further stated that, if elected, he would fight corruption to ensure that Nigeria becomes a country where its citizens are proud to have their passports and foreign investment thrives.

“We will fight and stop the corruption. The first thing to stop corruption is yourself, if you are not involved, your wife and family are not involved, and those around you are not involved, then you will lose more than 50 percent. We are committed, we cannot let these young people down, we must build a new Nigeria,” he said.

“Investors will return, those who left will return and those who leave, we want to bring them back. Nigerians are prepared to return if they find they have a country to return to. This green passport, Nigerians should be proud to use it again.”

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This assurance comes just days after the Henley Passport Index, an authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, revealed that Nigerian passports are among the list of The 20 worst passports to have in 2023.

The index which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that Nigeria’s place in the ranking is 97 out of 109 places.

After Nigeria, other worst passport countries include Eritrea with 44 destinations, South Sudan with 44 destinations, Iran 43 destinations, Congo 42 destinations, Lebanon 42 destinations, Sri Lanka 42 destinations, Sudan 42 destinations, Bangladesh 41 destinations, Kosovo 41 destinations , Libya 41 destinations, North Korea 40 destinations, Nepal 38 destinations, Palestinian Territory 38 destinations, Somalia 35 destinations, Yemen 34 destinations, Pakistan 32 destinations, Syria 30 destinations, Iraq 29 destinations and Afghanistan 27 destinations.

Countries offering visa-free, visa-on-arrival, and e-visa access to Nigerians at the time of this report include: Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Others include: Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Fiji, Micronesia, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.