The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, may have foreclosed his participation in the coalition that would challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), by declaring to his supporters that he will contest the 2027 general election on the LP’s platform.
He said this while speaking to a group of young supporters in a video circulating on the party’s WhatsApp platform on Saturday, as recorded by the Danroyce TV on Saturday.
He also said that what appears to be an internal crisis in the two dominant opposition political parties, the LP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was the handiwork of the federal government.
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Responding to a question on which platform he intended to contest the 2027 elections, Obi said, “I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party.”
Answering another question from a youth who was apparently disturbed about what appears to be Obi’s indifference towards the LP’s crisis, Obi said, “What is happening in the Labour Party and the PDP is caused by the government. Quote me anywhere.
“We had a problem in our party before, in the past, (Umaru) Yar’Adua was the president. I went to him then; he called the (then) INEC Chairman Prof. Maurice Iwu and told him I don’t want any problem in any party. We were forced to fix it.
“But today, in all the parties, there are problems. These are deliberate problems caused by the system. These are some of the things I want to clean up if I have the opportunity. Parties will function very well because you can’t have a system working without a strong opposition.”
He urged Nigerians to take responsibility for ensuring that their votes count, because even if agents are paid by political parties to look after their interests, the ultimate decision about the people’s votes counting rests with voters.
He also urged Nigerian youths and the electorate not to be discouraged because positive change will also be resisted by those who are beneficiaries of the old order.
The former Anambra State governor said that, left to him, there should be a retirement age for politicians seeking public office.
He said by the time the 2027 election holds, he would be 65 years old, and that he would not want to be contesting for elections in his 70s.
Obi’s comments come amid reports of a potential opposition coalition involving political figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and others.
The proposed coalition was allegedly leaning toward adopting the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform for 2027 elections.
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