Yakubu Dogara, the former speaker of the house of representatives and other Northern Christian leaders in his camp have revealed why they decided against supporting the presidential ambition of the Labour Party(LP) candidate, Peter Obi.
It would be recalled the leaders who rejected the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) announced on Friday that they would be supporting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Shedding more light on their decision, a statement released by the group revealed that they didn’t support Obi because they don’t believe he can win the 2023 presidential election.
They argued further that even if the Labour Party candidate wins the election, he may not be able to run the government successfully.
According to them, a victory for Obi may not speak well for the nation’s fragile political situation as it would mean a minority government would be in power.
They however submitted that the Labour Party is a future heavy-weight player in the country’s political space if it can maintain its current tempo.
Their statement reads: “From the existing structure of the Labour Party and even from the records of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as it stands for 2023 elections, even if all their candidates win in the 2023 elections, can the party still produce the President? Very unlikely indeed.
“Assuming without conceding that they even produce the President, can they (LP) run the government? Not likely. The results of 5 and 6 above will be to form a minority Government with devastating effect on National political stability further impelling the fragile health of our Country.
“Furthermore, there is no way a keen political observer will not see that there is a major disconnect between Peter Obi as a candidate and Labour, which is indicative of the fact that he is not running a collegial political structure in a diverse Country like Nigeria.
“It is, however, respectively observed that LP is a party to be watched in the future only if it sustains the tempo and maintains the mass movement while at the same time building up its structures towards subsequent elections.
NNPP Not Planning For 2023
The Northern Christian leaders added that they opted against Rabiu Kwankwaso and his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) because it doesn’t seem like they are gunning for the 2023 polls.
Dogara and his people argued that NNPP seems to be positioning for the future.
“The NNPP on the other hand has similar characteristics with the LP and there is no need repeating same except that ~ NNPP appears to be building a party for the future with – little or no impact in the 2023 elections,” they said.
