Apparently wary of the growing popularity of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the former Anambra State governor of splitting the opposition in the country.
It alleged that all those campaigning for Obi are working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu Tinubu.
Spokesman of the PDP presidential campaign council, Dino Melaye, called on Obi to “come back home” to support Atiku in order to stop the continuation of APC in government.
In a statement he issued yesterday in Abuja, Melaye noted that Obi does not have the capacity to unite the country.
He also called on the chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mohammed Buba Marwa to subject all the presidential candidates to a drug test.
Melaye, who admitted that Obi is depleting Atiku’s votes, claimed that Obi would not win the presidential election because the Labour Party does not have the structure to do so.
He noted that the Labour Party has only 30 senatorial candidates as against the 109 senatorial seats.
He said, “I will start without coloring it. And Nigerians must know that any vote for Peter Obi is a vote for APC because Peter Obi cannot make it. So, anybody that is voting for the Labour Party is actually voting for Tinubu. Anybody that is campaigning for Peter Obi is actually praying and working for Tinubu to become the President of the Republic of Nigeria because if you are voting for Peter Obi, you are depleting the votes of PDP because Peter Obi cannot make it.
He however claimed that Obi cannot stop Atiku’s victory in 2023.
“The truth of the matter is that the Labour Party only fielded 30 out of 109 candidates for the Senate. So who is going to protect the votes of the Labour party when even fielding candidates for 109 senatorial seats they couldn’t. They only fill that in 30 constituencies. Even the House of Representatives, they couldn’t field in every constituency. For the House of assembly they couldn’t fill upto 50 percent across the country,” Melaye stated.
He said fielding candidates for these positions is a basic criterion for measuring a party’s national spread for elections.
He further likened Obi to a regional candidate, claiming that that was the reason why Chief Obafemi Awolowo; Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe; Aminu Kano; couldn’t emerge presidents of Nigeria.
He added that Buhari emerged president after he ran on a national platform of the APC, having lost elections three times because he was a regional champion.
“Chief Awolowo was a fantastic leader, intellectually mobile and cerebral, very sagacious. But because he was running on regional grounds, both as Action Group and a UPN, he never became the president of this country.
“Azikiwe, another fantastic nationalists, but because he was a regional champion he was only able to produce governors within the eastern part of his country.
“Aminu Kano, a very pious man with all sincerity and integrity, could only win elections with PRP in Kano and Kaduna. Buhari himself, ran on regional grounds three times and lost woefully because he was the regional champion, both in APP, ANPP, and in CPC, he couldn’t win until he ran on a national platform. When people like Atiku, Tinubu, Saraki and myself collapsed to form a national party that was when Buhari could become president. So historically, Peter Obi ought to know that no regional champion can be president in Nigeria,” he said.
Calling on the chairman of NDLEA to subject all the presidential candidates to a drug test, Melaye added that the physical and mental fitness of the candidates is not just essential but a constitutional requirement.
He called on Tinubu to surrender himself for medical fitness, noting that it is a constitutional requirement.
Melaye continued: “I challenge the presidential candidates to submit themselves to a medical fitness examination including a narcotic examination. I called on Buba Marwa to carry Atiku and Tinubu and collect their blood samples for drug tests, because anyone who must be our president must be free of drugs because we are fighting as a nation seriously to battle drug abuse.
“I want to know the mental and physical state of who will be my President. Aso rock is looking for a healer and not a patient. We don’t want a president that will visit London every week again, and cause economic and social destruction for us as a nation.
“I just told you the constitutional requirement for you to be president of this country is that you must be physically and mentally fit. He should surrender himself to medical examination for his mental or physical fitness. You need to be fit to be president of this country.
“Even, ordinary NDA you must do a medical exam. If you want to join the police, you must do medical tests. You want to join the army, you must do medical tests, you want to join the Navy you must do a test. And this is a man who is going to be commander in chief of all our Armed Forces put together.
He must also go to medical fitness.”
Atiku Desperately Looking For Support Base, Obi’s Camp Fires Back
But hitting back at the major opposition party, the camp of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Obi, said it was the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who is desperately looking for a support base.
Obi said he and his political party are in every part of Nigeria, adding that he doesn’t need to struggle for a base.
Speaking through the spokesman of his presidential campaign council, Yunusa Tanko, the LP candidate said Nigerians are looking for real change, and have seen it in the labour party and their presidential candidate.
“We are not looking for a base. It is Atiku that is struggling for a base. Labour Party and Peter Obi supporters are in every part of Nigeria so, we don’t need to struggle with anyone for structure or base,” Tanko said.
Tanko further noted that the party is ready for the 2023 polls and would “continue to mobilise Nigerians to vote for Peter Obi and Labour Party for a better future.”
Ayu, Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Lamido Meet In Bauchi
Meanwhile, national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu; Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, and some members of the party’s presidential campaign council led by its director general, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, yesterday met in Bauchi.
The meeting which is said to be part of the North East tour to consult with party stakeholders also had some top members of the party in attendance, including former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido.
The meeting which lasted for about two hours was hosted by the Bauchi governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, who is also the deputy chairman of the PDP campaign council (North).
Although details of the meeting held behind closed doors were not available at the time of filing this report, LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that it was not unconnected with ongoing efforts to expand Atiku’s support base across the country ahead of the 2023 polls.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, PDP national chairman, Ayu, commended Governor Mohammed for the reception he recently gave the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign team when it visited Bauchi for consultation with stakeholders.
Ayu said, “You turned the recent visit into a show of strength by demonstrating how strong the party is in Bauchi. You stimulated the campaign of the PDP so much. The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium (ATBS) was full of excitement, and even outside the stadium had more people than inside”.
He noted that the recent Bauchi reception organised by the state governor clearly demonstrated that PDP is very strong in the state, and that the people of Bauchi are truly behind the governor’s exemplary leadership.
The PDP national chairman further told the governor that they were also in Bauchi to brief him about some of the developments in the party at the national level, and to seek his wise counsel.
“You are not only a governor, but a very experienced leader in the country. In all the places you have served you gathered the experience, and we feel people like you in this campaign; we need to come around you from time to time to consult, brief you and discuss with you. So, basically that is the reason behind this visit, and to thank you for the wonderful reception you accorded us”.
Briefing journalists shortly after the meeting, Governor Mohammed said, “This powerful delegation of PDP and the Atiku/Okowa campaign team are in Bauchi for consultation with stakeholders to strategise on the electioneering campaigns.
“We have discussed issues affecting the party, especially my area as vice chairman of the presidential campaign council in charge of the North. So, they came up with issues regarding some grey areas. We crossed the t’s and dotted the t’s, but they are not for public consumption”.
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