Ibrahim Quadri
The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi said he joined political coalition with the aim of emerging as a Presidential flagbearer, to unseat President Bola Tinubu.
Peter Obi made the clarification on Channels TV, Sunday Politics programme anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
Opposition arrowhead, Obi says he will contest for the office of the President in 2027, dismissing rumours that he will be running mate for Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential candidate in 2023, Atiku Abubakar.
Some leading opposition groups had on Wednesday July 2, unveiled ADC as a political party to challenge President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Among those present at the unveiling and involved in the coalition effort were the 2023 presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Other key figures included the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Victor Umeh; former PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; Labour Party’s 2023 Vice Presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed; former APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun; and former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.
Also in attendance were former Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Oserheimen Osunbor (Edo), and Celestine Omehia (Rivers), along with former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
Others present included, Senator Dino Melaye, former Youth Minister Solomon Dalung, former Ekiti Deputy Governor Kolapo Olushola, media mogul Chief Dele Momodu, Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Suleiman Nazif and Lee Maeba
While defending his action in joining the coalition, he noted, “You need the experience of those who have failed and those who have succeeded.
“I’m going to contest for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I believe I am qualified for it,” Obi said.
When asked whether he was considering becoming the running mate to Atiku, in the 2027 election, Obi clarified, “This is not in play; nobody has ever discussed that. People assume so many things. Nobody has ever discussed with me whether I am going to be A or B or C.”
The former Anambra State governor stressed that he remains a vibrant member of the Labour Party though he is an active member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition adopted by the opposition to unseat President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is eyeing a second term of four years in office in 2027.
“I am part of the coalition which will be able to produce a president with the capacity and compassion to save this country,” he said.
Continuing, he stated, “I don’t need a day more than four years if elected as Nigeria’s president. I don’t need more than four years to provide good governance.”
He criticized Tinubu’s administration over insensitivity to the plight of an average Nigerian.
“I don’t need a private jet… For my first four years as governor, I used 406. The president should be ready to die if the people are dying,” he added.
Speaking on trust by the Northern part of the country, he noted, “I want them to trust me. The biggest asset of this country is in the North — the uncultivated land in the North. The criminality we face in the North today, I will deal with it. If I am president, the North will celebrate me.”
Also, Peter Obi criticised Tinubu’s government for not showing compassion to Nigerians in the wake of recent killings.”
He maintained that Tinubu’s administration has borrowed more than Yar’Adua, Jonathan.
