PDP, Atiku Have Lost 85% of Supporters to Obi, Says Labour Party Chieftain

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

A Labour Party (LP) chieftain and Special Adviser to Peter Obi on Public Affairs, Katch Ononuju, yesterday said the  main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost up to 85 per cent of its supporters to  Obi since after  leaving his former party for LP.

Ononuju also boasted that the ongoing organic revolution across the country will secure the party the expected victory at the polls in February next year.

Meanwhile, Peter Obi has disowned a manifesto in circulation purportedly released by the party  yesterday morning.

In interview on Channels TV Sunrise Daily monitored by THISDAY, Ononuju said: “Up to 85 per cent of the PDP historical voting blocs are now following LP, never mind what the dinosaurs are telling you and their ability to rent crowd. We want to work with the organic people, we want to work with the Nigerian people.”

Ononuju said he left the PDP for LP because the party has grown in popularity with Nigerians, especially the youths.

His words: “The LP wasn’t known six months ago in the way it is known today but the minute problem came in the PDP,  Peter Obi moved.

“He wasn’t the only one to move, several people moved and suddenly the youths looked at those who moved and said this is where we are going to and that we are very happy for.”

“The PDP that we are running away from is the PDP that has now become infected with the mindset from the APC.”

“The new LP and the yearnings of the youths are  premised on an inclusive Nigeria that one that we have abandoned doesn’t believe in an inclusive enterprise. We now want to move with the youths to a Nigeria where everybody should have a sense of belonging in this enterprise of nation building.

Meanwhile, Peter Obi has called on his supporters to ignore a manifesto in circulation, noting that the authentic one would be released soon.

The manifesto was released  yesterday via LP’s official Facebook page and the party’s various media platforms, stating seven  key priorities the Obi’s government will tackle if elected president next year.

In the 48 pages manifesto themed: ‘Our Pact With Nigerians: Creating a New Nigeria’, Obi and his team listed what it tagged “Purposeful and participatory leadership nation rebirth based in our seven priorities’.

The document reads:The Obi-Datti governance priorities are: 1. securing Nigeria, ending banditry and insurgency and uniting our dear nation to manage our diversity such that no one is left behind.

 2. Production-centered growth for food security and export – moving Nigeria from production to consumption. 3. Restructuring the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms, to fight corruption and enthrone rule of law and all-inclusive and effective government.

 4. Leapfrogging Nigeria from an oil-independent economy to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) with massive investment in new technologies.

5. Expanding physical infrastructure – with a focus on critical sectors like power, multi-modal transportation gas pipeline, etc- through efficient public-private partnership (PPP) reforms (unleashing growth-enabling entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations).

6. Youth engagement and human capital development that improves the quality of life of workers and families and productivity-enhancing education that empowers labour competitiveness.

7. Robust foreign policy that restores Nigeria’s strategic relevance. ‘Nigeria’s presidency not retirement home for sick, aged,’ Peter Obi issues strong Warning Ahead of 2023 Polls Nigerians have been warned against handing over the country to presidential candidates who are either sick or too weak to handle the responsibility of governance.

Obi has, however, in his verified Twitter handle said the document was not authentic.

He Twitted: “We have not formally released our Manifesto. I will do so personally.  It seems an earlier draft copy under review has made its way into the public space. Until I release the approved and final draft, please disregard what is being circulated.”