Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi “worthless” – Tinubu’s campaign

The APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has rejected the endorsement of Labor Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, describing it as “meaningless.”

He said the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, will not lose sleep over Mr. Obasanjo’s actions, because the former president is a “political paperweight” who cannot make anyone win elections in Nigeria.

The former president has in an open letter to young Nigerians on Sunday endorsed Mr. Obi’s candidacy.

But in a statement by its Director of Media & Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, the PCC said that while it respects Mr. Obasanjo’s right to support and endorse any candidate of his choice in any election, his endorsement of Mr. Obi is meaningless.

“We dare to say that our party and our candidate, Asiwa Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not lose sleep over Obasanjo’s move, because Obasanjo is known for always opposing progressive political forces, as he did against MKO Abiola in 1993.

“The endorsement is completely meaningless because the former President has no political intention or influence anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win the House of Assembly election let alone win the Presidential election. He is a political paper,” Mr. Onanuga said.

Although it is Mr. Obi who has got the support of Mr. Obasanjo, other candidates including Mr. Tinubu have also sought the support of the former president.

Mr. Tinubu had in August last year visited Mr. Obasanjo in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, as part of a consultation to actualize his ambitions.

Is Obasanjo’s support appropriate

Mr. Obasanjo’s support does not guarantee a candidate victory in the presidential election, but he is considered one of the most influential Nigerians.

In 2019, he supported his former representative, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, against the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. Buhari won the election.

However, previously, the candidates supported by Mr. Obasanjo in the presidential elections in 2007, 2011 and 2015 all won.

Read the full statement by Mr. Onanuga below.

CONFIRMATION OF OBASANJO to Bp. PÉTRUK OBI IS NOT A TEENAGE

We read with great pleasure the endorsement of Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labor Party by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his New Year message on Sunday.

After calls from journalists from various media asking for a reaction we decided to make this preliminary statement, although we do not consider the so-called endorsement to be meaningless.

We respect the democratic right of former President Obasanjo to support and encourage the candidate of his choice in any election.

Unless he announced it officially in his new year message, astute political observers in Nigeria know that Chief Obasanjo’s choice of Peter Obi was expected. He previously declared his position at various public events, the last of which was at the 70th birthday of Chief John Nwodo, the former President of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Enugu.

We dare to say that our party and our candidate, Asiwa Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not lose sleep over Obasanjo’s move, because Obasanjo is known for always opposing progressive political forces, as he did against MKO Abiola in 1993.

The endorsement is totally meaningless because the former President has no political intention or influence anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win the House of Assembly election let alone win the Presidential election. He is a political paperweight.

Nor is he a democrat to be proud of.

We recall that in the 2003 and 2007 general elections when he was the sitting President, Obasanjo used all the coercive instruments of the State used to train people into elective offices against the will of Nigerians as shown in the polls. In 2007, he declared the polls a do or die affair after failing in his bid to amend our constitution to allow him a third term.

From our records, President Obasanjo has not succeeded in making anyone win elections in Nigeria since then.

Even in Ogun State no one can count on support or endorsement to become governor or Councilor.

We pity Peter Gregory Obi because we believe that Chief Obasanjo cannot win the polling unit and ward in Abeokuta for Obi in the coming Presidential election on February 25, 2023.

Chief Obasanjo’s endorsement is not a political currency Mr. Peter Obi can spend anywhere in Nigeria because he is not a political force, even in that part of the country.

Chief Obasanjo also endorsed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019 against President Muhammadu Buhari. My heart was besieged by Buhari’s wide margin in the election.

History will repeat itself in February as our candidate Asiwa Bola Ahmed Tinubu will defeat Obi by a huge margin.

We take certain notice from the part of the endorsement statement where Chief Obasanjo said no presidential candidate is a Saint.

We want to state here that Chief Obasanjo is not a good judge of character. He is a man who only thinks of himself as the all-knowing Saint in Nigeria.

Over the years, Chief Obasanjo also believed that integrity, honesty and all good virtues began and ended with him.

Bayo Onanuga

Director, Media & Publicity

APC Presidential Campaign Council

January 1, 2023