A faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has pleaded with Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, to wait till the 2031 election. As reported by Guardian on Thursday, July 24, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation urged Obi to shelve his 2027 presidential ambition ‘for the sake of national integration, equity, and peace’.
Obi, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; ex-transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi; and Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state; are working together under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition platform to possibly wrest federal power from President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 election.
Amid the anti-Tinubu plot, Ohanaeze advised the former Anambra state governor to support the current Nigerian leader’s second term bid. PM News also noted Ohanaeze’s stance.
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In a statement, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the deputy national president of the Ohanaeze faction, told Obi that unseating President Tinubu would prove exceedingly challenging. The group reminded Obi that the south-east geopolitical zone alone would not make him president. The statement partly reads: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo fully acknowledges Obi’s constitutional right to contest the presidency in 2027. However, we must confront the stark reality that, despite his considerable social media following, the potential for betrayal looms large.
“Such betrayal could yield dire consequences, with the Igbo people once again bearing the repercussions, as we did in the elections of 2019 and 2023. In 2019, Mr. Obi was the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, and the joint ticket ultimately cost the South-East an additional sixth state, a promise made by former President Muhammadu Buhari to Igbo leaders contingent upon their support.”
