L-R: Peter Obi, Labour Party candidate; Bola Tinubu, APC candidate and Atiku Abubakar, PDP candidate
By NewsBits
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday endorsed the Labour Party standard bearer, Peter Obi, saying he had an edge over other presidential candidates in terms of knowledge, discipline, vitality, and character.
The elder statesman, therefore, called on Nigerians to vote for the LP standard bearer in the February 25 presidential polls. But his endorsement attracted angry reactions from the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the African Action Alliance which described his support for Obi as worthless.
The presidential candidates of the APC, Bola Tinubu; PDP, Atiku Abubakar; LP, Obi, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso are the frontrunners in the race to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in the poll.
Peter Obi (right) consulting with Chief Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former President
In the 2023 New Year message signed by the former President and made available to newsmen by his aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo described the last seven years of the Buhari regime as horrible and hell on earth for most Nigerians.
The letter partly read, “The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from the mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
In endorsing the ex-Anambra State governor, the elder statesman said a suitable presidential candidate must have “a track record of ability and performance; a vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God.”
Chief Obasanjo top left with the leading candidates in the February 25, 2023 presidential election
‘Endorsement worthless’
Responding to Obasanjo’s lengthy message, the Director, Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu, would not lose sleep over the endorsement.
Onanuga, in a statement on Sunday, described the endorsement as worthless, adding that Obasanjo was a paperweight with no political goodwill or leverage anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win a councillorship election let alone a presidential election.
“We make bold to say that our party and candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not lose sleep over Obasanjo’s move, as Obasanjo is notorious for always opposing progressive political forces, as he did against MKO Abiola in 1993.
“The endorsement is worthless because the former president does not possess any political goodwill or leverage anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win a councillorship election, let alone a presidential election. He is a political paperweight. He is also not a democrat anyone should be proud to be associated with.’’
Onanuga alleged that while in power, Obasanjo in 2003 and 2007 used the coercive instruments of state at his disposal to railroad people into elective offices against the will of Nigerians as expressed at the polls.
“In 2007, he declared the polls a do-or-die affair after he failed in his bid to amend our constitution to have a third term. From our records, former president Obasanjo has not successfully made anyone win an election in Nigeria since then. Not even in Ogun State can anyone rely on his support or endorsement to become a governor or councillor,’’ he contended.
Expressing pity for Obi, Onanuga said the APC is confident that Obasanjo cannot win his polling unit and ward in Abeokuta for the LP candidate in the coming presidential election. The statement added, “We want to state here that Chief Obasanjo is not a good judge of character. He is a man who considers only himself as the all-knowing saint in Nigeria. Over the years, Chief Obasanjo has also convinced himself that integrity, honesty, and all good virtues begin and end with him.”
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (right) with Peter Obi, his preferred presidential candidate
In its comment, the PDP noted that the endorsement of the Labour Party’s standard bearer by the ex-President was not as important as the endorsement of the Nigerian people who have resolved to elect a credible leader in the 2023 general election.
Speaking in a telephone conversation the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba said, “What is important is the endorsement of the Nigerian people. The endorsement of an individual no matter how highly placed does not translate to victory at the polls.
