With the 2023
elections in view, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has endorsed Peter
Obi, standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP) – a move that has stirred up
heated debates.
In his New Year message to Nigerians, Obasanjo said the
country has a “unique opportunity” to correct itself in the forthcoming
elections.
“None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares
their character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and
vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay
focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with
the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an
edge,” he had said.
Since leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and clinching the LP presidential ticket in 2022, Obi’s support base has considerably grown, propelling him to become one of the frontrunners in the race.
Many have, however, argued that Obasanjo’s support may not
translate to votes for Obi to win the election.
A HISTORY OF ENDORSEMENTS
In the build-up to the 2019 polls, the former president
backed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, but the PDP candidate lost the
election.
Abubakar was vice-president when Obasanjo was in office
between 1999 and 2007.
In 2015, the former
president endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The circumstances [Buhari] will be working under if he wins
the election are different from the one he worked under before, where he was
both the executive and the legislature – he knows that,” Obasanjo had said.
“It’s a question of leadership – political and military.
He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t
I support him?”
Speaking with CNN in 2015 after Obasanjo
endorsed him, Buhari said the former president is well respected and that the
endorsement would bring more supporters to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“It will certainly bring more supporters to us and more
confidence to those who were sitting on the fence because general Obasanjo is
highly respected,” Buhari had said.
“And as far as the Nigerian nation is concerned, there is no
serious issue that can be discussed without people seeking his opinion and
listening to it.”
2022: APC, PDP DISMISS OBASANJO’S ENDORSEMENT
Fast forward to 2023, and the leading parties — the APC and
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — have dismissed the endorsement of the former president for Obi.
Despite the fact that Buhari once welcomed the support of
Obasanjo for the APC, the party’s campaign council said the former president’s
endorsement of Obi is “worthless”.
“The endorsement is
actually 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 win a Presidential election,” the APC said.
“He is a political paperweight.”
On the other hand, PDP said Obasanjo’s endorsement is his
personal opinion that would not sway Nigerians.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com