About two weeks before the commencement of political fireworks in the 2023 campaigns scheduled to begin on September 28, street marches and rallies being organised by the campaign team and support groups of presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, are already posing a challenge for his main rivals banking on votes from the South East geopolitical zone of the country.
Turnout in the rallies are particularly problematic for Obi main political opponents, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), who may find themselves walled off from the South East in terms of votes.
Support groups of the Labour Party yesterday marched through the streets of Enugu in a show of force that suggests the entire southeast region may be moving towards voting for Obi, a situation, analysts say, would greatly affect the outcome of the 2023 presidential elections.
Leadership Sunday findings revealed that the LP and the Obi candidacy is gaining enough momentum, as it is rubbing off on other Labour Party candidates, especially those running for governorship and seats in the National Assembly.
Some governorship campaign teams and party spokespersons of the LP now believe they not only stand a good chance at the election, but are actually the party to beat.
Two states in the South East, Imo and Ebonyi, are governed by the APC. Two others, Enugu and Abia are PDP states, while Anambra is run by the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA.
The crowd was unprecedented in Enugu yesterday as different support groups of the presidential candidate of the LP, Obi, embarked on what they described as a two million march for the former Anambra State governor.
Vehicular and commercial activities were almost grounded in some parts of Enugu, as the supporters of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate marched through different parts of the city.
From the Okpara Square where the crowd assembled before taking off, the numbers kept growing as the crowd chanting pro-Obi songs marched through the Enugu State capital.
The growing support for the Obident Movement has long taken over Enugu State with members of the major parties showing overwhelming support for the Obi project.
The recent attack on the Labour Party meeting in Awgu recently could not deter the overwhelming support for the Obi presidency, as the march recorded an unprecedented success.
Some of the supporters, who spoke to our correspondent, said they decided to use the march to tell people that they are solidly in support of Obi.
The state chairman of the Labour Party in Enugu State, Casmir Agbo, assured that the governorship candidate of the party in the state for the 2023 general election, Chidioke Edeoga, will emerge the next governor of the state
He disclosed that the asset and structure of the party for the election remain the masses who have been embarking on solidarity rallies for the party.
Agbo assured that he has gotten enough support to cripple the PDP in the state.
He said despite the attacks on members of the Labour Party in the state by suspected members of the PDP, Edeoga will emerge victorious.
Similarly, the media adviser to Alex Otti, Ferdinand Ekeoma, told Leadership Sunday that Obi’s candidacy is impacting positively on Otti’s governorship candidacy in Abia State.
He said, “This is not just because of Obi’s popularity, but also because the two men are long time close friends who share similarity of excellent antecedents in the corporate world.
“This is coupled with the fact that the people consider Otti a strong voice and a reliable personality who has remained consistent and courageous in lending his voice against perceived leadership failings in the state.”
Ekeoma who is also the spokesman of the Alex Otti campaign organisation added that this is in spite of the setbacks the former banker experienced in the 2015 and 2019 elections.
We’ll Do Everything Possible To Woo Wike, Others – LP Chieftain
A chieftain of the Labour Party, Valentine Ozigbo, has said the party leadership is making plans to woo Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, to support the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running-mate, Yusuf Datti-Ahmed, in the coming 2023 general election.
The former governorship candidate of the PDP in the last Anambra State governorship election emphasised that “politics is local”, and as such, the LP would be ready to enter into alliance with Wike and some other willing state governors to gain their support for Peter Obi’s presidential bid in their respective states.
Ozigbo who spoke during a Labour Party stakeholders’ meeting in Awka yesterday urged the electorate to shun influence of money and vote for Peter Obi because he has the capability to solve the myriad of problems facing the country, especially youth unemployment, poverty, ethnic restiveness and insecurity.
He said, “It has become clear that Peter Obi is the choice of every segment of the Nigeria populace for the presidency of this country in the coming election.
“It is now incumbent on us to let those who don’t have influence of the social media, who are influenced with money, to learn that the little money they get that will not last for two weeks should not be the reason why you should sacrifice the whole of the next four years; that if you are in a position to resist the money, resist it, but if you can’t resist it, take the money and vote wisely.
“Now, let me say this; we are open discussing with other parties
Naturally, we would like to see the Labour Party in the entirety of the Senate, House of Reps and state Assemblies. That should be our first option.
“But we find that in politics you have to sit down and negotiate; if there is an APC governor who is willing to make sure that Peter wins in his state because he has some other people to support for the Senate or whatever, we are open to it. So, politics is local; it is not how you play it in Jigawa, in Imo or in Rivers that you play it in Anambra State
“We can decide and say, ‘Wike, support us in Rivers so we win Rivers, and we sit down with Wike and say, ‘who do you want us to support in Rivers for the Senate, if you can’t go it yourself?’ So we will open our minds to all possibilities; the important thing is that Peter Obi must be our next president”.
I’ll Turn Around Imo Economy, Says Imo LP Governorship Aspirant
Meanwhile, a Labour Party (LP) governorship aspirant, Dr. Tobechukwu Ehirim, has promised to turn around the economy of Imo State within 12 months if elected.
Ehirim who met with the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, in Atlanta Georgia, United States, said he would revamp ailing industries, create employment opportunities, raise the internally generated revenue and make the state attractive for investment within the shortest period of election.
The business mogul who stated this while interacting with chieftains of the party on the presidential campaign billed to kick off soon across the country promised to stop kidnapping and youth agitations in Imo State.
He said, “It is possible to empower the youths genuinely; it is possible to increase our level of employment and it is possible to reduce insecurity and restive agitations not only in the state but across the country.
“We were in Atlanta Georgia, USA to meet with the most popular Presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, Mr Peter Obi. It was a meeting of like-minds.”
Ehirim, who said he shares similar ideology of performance, service delivery, integrity, prudence, and vision towards the new Nigeria, with the LP presidential candidate, promised to replicate this ideology in Imo.
“Imo State must be freed and handed over to the people; we must support the best of us to lead the rest of us,” he added.
Obi Swelling Igbo’s Political Relevance – Umahi
Meanwhile, Ebonyi State governor and chairman of South East Governors’ Forum, Dave Umahi, has predicted victory for the governing APC) in next year’s election, picking the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, as his second favourite.
He said the current Peter Obi political movement would go a long way to prepare the environment that will make an Igbo president possible in the future.
Umahi who spoke with State House correspondents at the weekend after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, said he was at the villa to invite Buhari to commission the new Ebonyi State Governor’s Lodge, which his administration just completed.
The governor who still maintained that the presidential contest in 2023 should be an all-South affair said he has been fascinated by the momentum created by the Obi movement because it is creating awareness about the people of the South East and their political relevance.
Umahi noted: “What happened during the primaries of PDP and APC were a kind of miscalculation by our people, but to say whether they’re ready for the presidency of the country anytime, I think that the movement of Peter Obi is an eye opener and that’s why I said I love what he’s doing. I’m encouraged by what he’s doing because if he’s not doing what he’s doing, it means that the South East would have been forgotten.
“So, while my party takes the victory, he would have prepared a very good ground for the South East presidency so that nobody is going to write us off and you can see the level of his acceptability, which does not translate to victory over APC. I’m sure of that. But it’s a good movement and it reassures the Southeast people and the entire country that we’re accepted and that we’ll one day become the President of this country. It’s very important.
“Peter Obi’s movement and all the movements are anchored on God’s will. It’s only God who knows who will win, but there must be a wish. As a party man, I would wish that our party wins and if God says no, the next person I’ll wish that should win is Peter Obi because I believe strongly, and I will say it anywhere, in this North/South presidency.
Umahi noted that after the North had taken eight years, there was no moral justification for the region to seek to take another eight years.
“It should go to the South. So, I’m not wishing Peter Obi away. God has the final say and He has the power and gives to whomever He wishes”, he said.
Umahi also attempted correcting a narrative in the public that the bloody violence, which was prevalent in the South East until recently is simmering because of the prospect of a Peter Obi winning the election in 2023, saying security is returning to the region because of the successes being recorded nationwide.
“You cannot technically assign the killings to be because of Igbo presidency. You can see that security is improving generally in the country and it has nothing to do with the movement of Peter Obi. The Peter Obi movement is a movement that is anchored on equity, justice and fairness.
“It may not translate to outright win because I must defend my party. I must wish my party well, and I’m having the ticket of my party. But whether what he’s doing has meaning in not only the South East, it does have meaning. So, we must never attribute the killings in the South East to this kind of movement”, he said.
Asked about the chances of his party, the APC, in the South East in the next elections, the governor noted that the game would change as different dynamics would be out to determine people’s interests, even as he predicted that Obi would be getting a substantial number of the votes of the region.
“It’s going to be a different ball game altogether because when campaigns start the interest of our people in terms of presidency is there. You can’t wish it away, but everyone in South East, holding the ticket of their party, is going to be struggling and he’s going to be fighting.
“You will not tell the guy that has the ticket of the House of Assembly to look at the bigger picture of Igbo presidency. He may not see it. But that is not to say that Peter Obi is not going to get substantial votes in the South East,” Umahi noted.
