Support for Obi not about political positions

A spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Farotimi, has said he and many members of the party are not supporting the LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in order to get political positions if Obi emerges victorious in the forthcoming polls.

The LP chieftain said this during an interview on Channels Television’s electoral programme, The 2023 Verdict, on Tuesday.

Farotimi explained that their support for Obi stems from the need to see a better Nigeria; the need to see critical issues plaguing the country being tackled and the need for power to shift to the South-East.

The LP PCC spokesman added that if Obi was in a different party and fit who they see as a worthy candidate to liberate Nigeria from her problems, they still might have supported him.

“The Southern and Middle Belts Forum, which comprises of Ohanaeze, Afenifere, PANDEF and Middle Belts Forum, all four, we came together more than two years ago and we highlighted that there are critical issues plaguing Nigeria and these issues needed to be tackled, we came out with our position publicly on the need for power shift.

“After a point we also came together and we spoke on the need for power to shift, for equity and justice, to the South-East. All this time nobody was focusing on Peter Obi.

“We had already taken a position and when we found the person who fits the bill in relations to competence, equity, justice, and in understanding the governance of this country to make it work for the Nigerian people, we as a collective supported him.

“He was in Labour Party and of course, we went into the party with him, not necessarily as card carrying members of the Labour Party, but in recognition of the fact that the Labour Party presents an opportunity and a platform for the actualisation of these ideals that we have been speaking about all these years. If he had remained in the PDP, we may or may not have supported him, he may or may not be the one that we would even have been supporting. But today, based on the realities on the ground, he is in the Labour Party.”

When asked what the role of Afenifere, PANDEF or Ohanaeze would be in governance should in case Obi wins the presidential election, Farotimi said they would hold him accountable to his promises, as their support is not to get any political post.

He said, “Our belief is that we would cooperate with him, we are not in this looking for political posts but we are in this believing that Nigeria needs and requires change.

“So, if Obi wins the presidency, we intend to hold him accountable to each and every of the word he has given to the Nigerian people in relations to the governance of Nigeria.”

Punch