•Appeals to Wike, others to sheathe their swords
•PDP candidate will not stop former president’s honorarium, Melaye declares
•Group tackles Obasanjo, says Nigerians must avoid another shipwreck
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Ripples of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi continued yesterday as one of the spokesmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, yesterday insisted that the party was not bothered about the development.
He said while the party would have loved to have the endorsement of the former Nigerian leader like he did in 2019, the party was comfortable with the numerous endorsements from Nigerians across the country.
Speaking on AIT Television programme ‘Kakaaki’ yesterday, Aniagwu, who is also the Delta State Commissioner for Information, said Obasanjo was one leader that enjoys respect across the country, adding that the party was quite happy with the endorsements it had received from Nigerians which could be seen from the different rallies held thus far.
“We have organic convergence of Nigerians in all our rallies and at the end of the day their vote is what matters than any other thing.
“We would have loved to have Obasanjo’s endorsement just like he did in 2019, when he endorsed and supported Atiku Abubakar because he believed that he had what it takes to take Nigeria out of the current situation.
“Democracy allows you the latitude to make choices and he has made his own choice and we do believe that most Nigerians are already making their own choices and from what we have seen Atiku is already favoured to win this election.
“We don’t have any problem with Obasanjo endorsing anybody because that is his democratic right and you can’t take it away from him, but Nigerians at the end of the day will make the ultimate choice of who governs them for the purpose of recovering Nigeria from where we are at the moment.”
Aniagwu stressed that the party would not begrudge Obasanjo over the choice of Obi, rather it would buoy the party to intensify engagements with relevant stakeholders across the country.
“The PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, his running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and indeed our presidential campaign council are not ruffled because we do realise from the beginning that we are going into a contest.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be a roller-coaster and that is why we have continued to interface with Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones.
“In this contest, nobody is an underdog and we do have respect for all candidates contesting this election but we do believe that we stand taller than any of the contestants.
“We are convinced that Nigerians would likely look in our direction because our presidential candidate and his running mate have got the credentials to be able to position our country and recover it from where we are at the moment.
“So, a former President under the PDP has decided to pitch his tent with another person is not something that will ruffle us, it will only strengthen us to further deepen our interface with Nigerians for them to understand that where we are headed that Atiku-Okowa are the only ones that have what it takes to lead Nigeria out of the woods,” he said.
The presidential campaign spokesman said he was happy that Obasanjo in endorsing Atiku in 2019, then made it clear that the former vice president has the experience and had described him as, “the president for the time.”
“I don’t think anything has changed from his views about the capability of Atiku to address the many challenges confronting us today, the challenges have become more severe which requires a man that has got the experience and candour to be able to deal with these issues.
“Our brother Peter Obi was a member of the PDP until not too long ago before he joined the Labour Party, so we do not begrudge him if he now enjoys the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Most Nigerians do know that based on the records of Atiku Abubakar and his running mate Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa in the last seven years that these are the individuals that have what it takes to be able to address the challenges of today.
“Atiku has got the reach both nationally and internationally to unify Nigeria and put it on a strong pedestal in the comity of nations and we are very much convinced that Atiku towers far above other presidential candidates and that is why we are looking forward to Nigerians endorsing us because theirs is the ultimate,” Aniagwu added.
On the threat by G-5 governors to pitch tent with another presidential candidate other than that of the PDP, Aniagwu said the party would continue to appeal to them to sheathe their sword and join hands to deliver on its rescue mission.
He said Wike’s actions in recent times were inimical to democratic norms and ethos and pleaded with the Rivers governor to respect the democratic rights of citizens of the state to freely support their preferred candidates without hindrance.
“We will continue to plead with our leaders who are members of the G-5 because we believe that working with us will smoothen our ride to Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
“We also recognise their democratic rights to make choice, but as they do so, they must recognise the role the party has played in their lives and that is why we are asking them to sheath their sword and return home.
“Much as we desire that there should be peace in the party, a peaceful Nigeria is much more than any group and PDP being a group is desirous of a peaceful Nigeria,”
He urged governor Wike to thread softly in Rivers, adding that his recent actions strangulating opposition views in the state was not good for democracy.
“Revocation of Certificate of Occupancy of those who tend to have divergent views with him is not in line with democratic norms and principles.
“Hounding members of the party that don’t agree with him is not also in line with democratic ethos and so while we allow him to have his own choice, he should respect the rights of those who gave him the power which is of course transient and would be over in five months’ time.
“If Wike doesn’t like Atiku and Okowa he should think about what the party has done for him right from when he became Chairman of Obiakpo Local Government Council to becoming two time governor of oil-rich Rivers state.
“Let him respect the fact that the party has done well for him and return home to help the party to win the election.
“This is important because where we are now is not a period for acrobatics but a period to begin to rebuild, recover Nigeria and doing so we need to march together in one accord as members of the PDP which is the only party that is
well positioned to lead Nigeria out of the woods,” he stated.
Also, on Facebook page, the spokesperson of the PDP PCC and Director of Public Affairs, Dino Melaye said: “God will keep Obasanjo alive, and he will attend council of state meetings with Atiku Abubakar as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
“I also want to assure him that his honorarium will be paid,” Melaye added.
OBJ’s Endorsement: Nigerians Must Avoid Another Shipwreck, Group Says
In a related development, South-West Political Group, the Conscience Bureau (CB) has declared that only Atiku could be trusted with the onerous task of salvaging Nigeria presently.
It called on Nigerians to discountenance Obi’s endorsement by Obasanjo, stating that Nigerians must be wary of such move.
The group, in a statement recalled that when the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Bola Tinubu and its other leaders went to seek Obasanjo’s endorsement for then Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambition on December 13, 2013, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, acting on his premonition, had warned that such an endorsement could lead the nation to a shipwreck.
The statement by Conscience Bureau’s General Secretary, Mr. Said Ologuneru, noted that going by what Nigeria and Nigerians have gone through between 2015 and now, “under the APC presidency, it is apparent that the nation Nigeria had experienced a shipwreck, as Soyinka predicted, warning Nigerians not to allow a repeat of that horrible experience.”
It added: “We are under no illusion therefore that Obi’s endorsement by Obasanjo this time is tottering on the same lane as when the APC designated Obasanjo as its navigator in 2013, a development which Prof. Soyinka described as heading for a shipwreck.”
The group said only a shipwreck could take the Nigerian naira from N190/$1 in 2015 to N780/$ in 2022 or a litre of petrol from N85 in 2015 to N350 in December 2022.
It added that its warning to Nigerians was to avoid an another shipwreck, “which the endorsement of the LP candidate portends,” noting that Nigerians must reject any attempt to perpetuate the APC’s evil reign beyond 2023.
“As nature had it, the “Navigator” led the APC into Aso Rock Villa, and President Muhammadu Buhari replaced Goodluck Jonathan. Today, we all are witnesses to the wreckage the nation’s ship had experienced,” the group said.
The group further noted that Soyinka’s warning then, which Nigerians refused to heed in the 2015 presidential election, eventually led the country into troubled waters as evident in the country’s ailing economy, growing insecurity and hardship being faced by Nigerians today.
It warned that it was important for the electorate to save the country from another shipwreck ahead of the 2023 general election, saying that Nigerians must look beyond the APC, which Obasanjo endorsed in the past and Peter Obi, as both cannot help the country in its present state,
According to the Conscience Bureau, the huge challenges now facing the country after eight years of Obasanjo-recommended administration should be an admonition to Nigerians not to follow another sentimental endorsement from the former president, “just as they should not allow individuals such as Tinubu, who brought Buhari’s misguided administration upon Nigeria, to take the saddle of leadership.”
The group charged the electorates to save Nigeria, “by electing the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, whom it described as possessing the wealth of experience and know-how that can transform the country and halt its fast-paced traffic towards the edge of the precipice.”
The group said: “It is curious that the same Tinubu, who led Buhari and other leaders of the newly-formed APC to Abeokuta in 2013, to consult former President Obasanjo, describing him as the ‘Navigator’ and the ‘political compass’ of APC’s false attempt to rescue Nigeria, could turn around to describe Obasanjo’s take on the Nigerian polity as ‘worthless and meaningless.”
“Nigerians have to be wary of Tinubu, APC and Obasanjo, who colluded in 2015 to bring the clueless APC administration and the resultant hardship upon the country.
“This time round, Obasanjo has endorsed Obi, but he appears to be working secretly to foist the APC on Nigerians, in an avowed commitment to lead Nigeria to destruction.
“Atiku represents Nigeria’s best opportunity to get out of the economic doldrums. He remains the best and most prepared candidate on offer.
“The former Vice-President represents the best opportunity for Nigeria to exit the economic woes foisted on it through Obasanjo’s miscalculated endorsement in 2013, which brought in General Buhari, and the only way APC would not continue in office beyond May 2023.
“The Conscience Bureau recalls that Tinubu had, in 2013, told Obasanjo that he and APC leaders were in Abeokuta because of Obasanjo’s courage and that to realise a stable Nigeria, they had resolved to make him their Navigator.
“It is hilarious that the same Tinubu could rubbish Obasanjo’s presumed courage at this time and his choice of Obi. The whole development points to the error of judgment and double standard of both Obasanjo and APC. They both cannot be trusted to salvage Nigeria at this auspicious period.”
The group further wondered how Obasanjo could allow emotions to cloud his judgment at this period when all hands are supposed to be on deck in the, “task of retaking Nigeria from the APC buccaneers.”
