El-Rufai Bars Peter Obi’s Group

By Gideon Njoku

The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has barred a Group of Northern supporters of the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP,  Peter Obi, from holding a scheduled event at the Arewa House Kaduna.

This was after the Group,  Peter Obi Support Network (PSON), had paid all necessary fees for the use of the venue. PSON had planned a Northern Summit in support of Mr. Peter Obi at the Arewa House  Kaduna State against Tuesday, July 19, 2022.

But at the last minute, El-Rufai aborted the use of the venue for the Summit.

To do that, he asked his spokesperson to call the Manager of Arewa House to notify POSN’s spokesman that the venue was no longer available for the use of PSON. “We cannot have Peter/Datti Northern Summit in Arewa House”, he told the organisers less than 24 hours to an event which had been widely advertised.

No reason was given.

PSON had unveiled plans for the  summit specifically designed to interact with supporters of the  Presidential candidate across the 19 Northern States of the country.

Comrade Sani Saeed Altukry, Spokesman for the  POSN told newsmen Monday that the summit was “not a political campaign of any sorts, but a converge of volunteers and would-be volunteers and supporters of the Obi-Datti project, for necessary interaction and cross-fertilization of ideas.”

PSON’s statement reads: “We condemn the decision of the Governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-rufai to block the hosting of the Northern Summit for Peter Obi and Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) and his running mate at the Arewa House in the state.

“The decision of the Governor is disheartening at the critical point in time when Northern Nigerians are desperate for development and liberation from poverty due to maladministration.

“The Governor of Kaduna state is intimidated by the rising profile of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, across the length and breadth of the country.

“The Governor should know that this is a “Peoples Movement” which can never be stopped.

“The Movement represents all oppressed Nigerians and everyone that desires good governance, and Governor El-rufai is too small to suppress it.”

Governor El-Rufai is of the ruling APC which Presidential candidate is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.