Confusion As Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi Speaks On Stepping Down To Accept Atiku’s Running Mate

Meanwhile, when asked if the LP candidate would be favourably disposed to negotiating with the PDP, the Director-General of the Peter Obi Campaign Organisation, Dr Doyin Okupe, vowed that the former governor would not step down for any candidate, adding that the candidate and his supporters were focused on the task ahead. NPC Recruitment portal 2022 for Adhoc Staff, Requirements, Closing Date The National Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr Umar Ibrahim, said on Friday that Obi remained the party’s presidential candidate and that there was no faction in the party. Ibrahim said this while addressing journalists in Kaduna.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted Ibrahim as saying, “Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, is the authentic presidential candidate of the party, duly elected at a convention organised by the leadership of Mr Julius Abure as the national chairman, supervised and recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

There is no faction in the LP, but in the imagination of those who are foot soldiers of enemies of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Obi won’t step down, says campaign DG Meanwhile, when asked if the LP candidate would be favourably disposed to negotiating with the PDP, the Director-General of the Peter Obi Campaign Organisation, Dr Doyin Okupe, vowed that the former governor would not step down for any candidate, adding that the candidate and his supporters were focused on the task ahead. “The support Peter Obi is getting across the country is too massive for anyone to ask him to step down for anyone. Nobody ever thought Obi could leave the PDP, but he left. The real third force is here with us. The coming revolution is beyond Obi. Peter Obi is a man whose time has come. The PDP and the APC have expired. They are no longer relevant in Nigeria’s current situation.”

Nigerians’ll be disappointed if Obi returns to PDP, says aide. Also, Obi’s media aide, Valentine Obienyem, told one of our correspondents in an interview on Friday that his principal was content with being the candidate of the Labour Party. Asked if his principal would be favourably disposed to working with Atiku if approached, Obienyem ruled out the possibility, saying that would dash the hopes of many Nigerians and leave them disappointed.

He added, “If today he (Obi) says he is going back to the PDP to be a running mate, I can tell you that if he walks on the street, many Nigerians will stone him and they will see him as a disappointment. Nigerians want him and the only thing we can do for him is to encourage him to answer the call of Nigerians. So, he will contest and I’m sure he will win, all things being equal.

Today, Nigerians want change and Peter Obi has been seen as a symbol of that change, so the issue of structure people talk about does not arise. The last time they asked him about the structure of his party, he said Nigerians across the country were the structure and that is the greatest structure.” On how Obi would match Atiku and Tinubu, reputed to be big spenders, the media aide said, “What is happening in Nigeria today is a peaceful revolution. Nigerians want to break away from the old order. Nigeria is ripe for a peaceful transition and Peter Obi is lucky to be at the forefront of that change.”

Asked how Obi would penetrate the North, Obienyem said Nigerians, including northerners, were desirous of good governance and that “what matters is that he has already penetrated the minds of Nigerians all over the country.”