Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, may have expressed his support for the president’s ambitions Peter Obibut other candidates believe they can convince Mr. Obasanjo to change his mind.
There, Adebayo Adewole, the presidential candidate from
The Social Democratic Party (SDP), met with Mr. Obasanjo at the latter’s residence in Abeokuta.
After the closed-door meeting, Mr. Adewole told reporters that one of his goals was to convince Mr. Obasanjo to support his presidential ambitions.
“Regarding the approval of Peter Obi by Obasanjo, Baba is also a Nigerian, a free man who has the right to his thoughts. The election is still far away.
“The essence of democracy is to make people change their minds and it is an ongoing exercise,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr. Obasanjo, in an open letter on New Year’s Day, endorsed Mr. Obi’s candidacy from the Labor Party.
The former Nigerian leader said he believes Mr. Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, is the best among the 18 candidates seeking to become Nigeria’s president in next month’s election.
Before endorsing Mr. Obi, other candidates, including Bola Tinubu of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, also sought Mr. Obasanjo’s support.
Mr Obasanjo ruled Nigeria as a democratically elected president on the platform of the PDP but has since announced his exit from partisan politics.
Although Mr. Obasanjo declared his support for Mr. Obi, he said he would not participate in the candidate’s campaign.
SDP visit
On Saturday, Mr. Adewole was accompanied on the former president’s visit by the party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State, Anthony Ojeshina.
The candidate described Mr. Obasanjo as a man respected by all Nigerians. He said he discussed the growth of his party, SDP, with the former president.
“Our discussion with him will actually make our party stronger and we are in the right direction. Baba is of the opinion that the solution to Nigeria’s problems will not come from the old party, it will come from the new party.
Mr. Adewole stated that Mr. Obasanjo was only giving a general response.
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“He said we should do our best, I hope we do well and he will give us help like we give to others in Nigeria and outside.”
“Our purpose is to come to Ogun State to hold a rally for our party, to see the traditional rulers and we cannot come here without seeing Baba Obasanjo. We must have benefited from him because we learned a lot about government, about how Baba is still work hard and we are more motivated if we are on the right path,” he said.
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