The endorsement of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has heightened tensions in Nigeria.
According to reports, Obasanjo endorsed Obi ahead of other presidential candidates for the 2023 election in a New Year message to Nigerians, citing a track record of ability and performance. The former President also stated that Obi’s age and physical and mental condition favour him over other front-runners.
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“We need selfless, courageous, honest, patriotic, in short, outstanding leadership with character and fear of God beyond what we have had in the recent past.
“None of the contestants is a saint, but when one compares their character, antecedent, understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo slammed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, reechoing that the last seven and a half years had been eventful and stressful for many Nigerians and that the country had gone from fry pan to fire and from mountain top to valley.
He went on to say that the government was hell on earth for most Nigerians and this is indisputably so considering the state of affairs in the country currently.
Following Obasanjo’s footsteps, Chief Clark has also endorsed Obi as his preferred candidate for next year’s election.
Clark believes that the next President of the United States should be educated and experienced and that the South-East region of the country should be allowed to produce the next President.
He said, “The vision statement shared by His Excellency Peter Obi, as it relates to making Nigeria more productive, using the rich resource endowment in every part of the country, curbing waste and fighting corruption; and creating jobs for our teeming youths through innovative initiatives is very commendable.”
However, the endorsements have elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians, including the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate Atiku Abubakar.
The APC, through its Presidential Campaign Council’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi as meaningless. The ruling party also accused Obasanjo of using all coercive instruments of state available to him as a sitting President to railroad people into elective offices against Nigerians’ will.
“The endorsement is actually worthless because the former President does not possess any political goodwill or leverage anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win a Councillorship election, let alone win a Presidential election. He is a political paperweight,” he said in a statement.
The presidency also responded through Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity. Shehu stated that Obasanjo will not stop attacking Buhari because he is envious of anyone who surpasses him in the nation’s development process.
He claimed President Buhari is miles ahead of Obasanjo in all areas of national development, a feat Shehu claimed is a cardinal sin for Obasanjo, citing the recently completed second Niger Bridge, which is awaiting commissioning.
He also claimed that Obasanjo’s vengeful attitude toward Buhari was the pinnacle of selfishness and a little short of moral turpitude and that he continued to attack the President out of frustration.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Campaign Council described Obasanjo’s endorsement as his personal opinion. According to a statement issued by its PCC spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the endorsement suggested Obasanjo is supporting a candidate with no experience in national governance.
Hon Malachy Okey Onyechi, a Labour Party, LP, chieftain in Enugu State, said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi was justified and came at the right time. Obi is on a rescue mission to save the country, according to Onyechi, who is also his party’s State House of Assembly candidate for the Nsukka West Constituency.
“Obasanjo has proven to be an elder statesman. It is clear to all that Nigeria has come to a stage where an elder like him (Obasanjo) would no longer be silent; at least he is a man who has reached the top of leadership in the country. He has just done the right thing, considering his age.
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“I am not surprised he came out openly to endorse Obi. He had in the past written letters to successive presidents either to give a warning or express his concern about certain development, which might not be in the good interest of the country.
“Obasanjo saw that Obi is on a rescue mission unlike other candidates who either think it is their birthright or their turn. No one can deny the fact that Obi is most qualified for the job.”
“Also, Chief Edwin Clark is an elder statesman. He knows that for equity, justice and fairness, it is the turn of the South-East to produce the next president. Not only that, the South-East has presented the most viable candidate amongst all the others,” he said.
