Nigeria Decides: Jonathan Roots For Peter Obi

By Charles Igbo

For equity and justice, Nigerians have been asked to queue behind, and support the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s dissident Governors, the G5, in particular, and Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, have been asked to give Obi maximum support.

This call was made by a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain in Enugu State, Emmanuel Jonathan. He is, incidentally, an aide to the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who is a member of the Rivers State Governor Wike led G5.

But Mr Jonathan, in a Press Release in Enugu said he was speaking as an aide to Governor Ugwuanyi, but as a PDP chieftain.

Jonathan, also, chided the leadership of the PDP and insisted that it “lacks the constitutional and moral backing to punish any member of the party over alleged anti-party activities.”

He pointed out that the leadership of the party is also “in breach of Section 7, sub section 3c (Aims and Objectives) of the constitution (as amended in 2017) which states that the party shall pursue its aims and objectives by adhering to the policy of the rotation and zoning of Party and Public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness.”

Jonathan pointed out “that if truly the G5 Governors and Senator Chimaroke Nnamani are fighting the injustice in the PDP, they should channel their support to Peter Obi of the Labour Party who is actually from the zone whose turn it is to produce the occupant of Nigeria’s presidential seat.”

He said, “Anything short of supporting Peter Obi’s presidential ambition by the G5 Governors and Senator Chimaroke Nnamani is an act of personal interest and not a people-based interest which is not good for them as leaders.

“This is also because the Southwest and South-South have on different occasions produced the occupants of Nigeria’s presidential seat in the persons of General Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan since the return of democracy in 1999.

“Deciding to support Senator Bola Tinubu by Senator Nnamani is not in defence of justice but his personal interest. The G5 Governors and Senator Chimaroke Nnamani should read the body language of Nigerians to understand what the people want now, and the sentiment of the people across the country is to vote for someone with sound health and capacity to change Nigeria for the better bearing in mind the level of suffering in the country at the moment.

“What Nigerians want now is to vote for someone that will entrench good leadership, enhance peaceful cohesion, equity, justice and fairness. Peter Obi encompasses all these qualities.”

Jonathan emphasised that his view was anchored on the principle of equity, and noted: “the NWC must act according to the dictates of the constitution of the party (2017 as amended) for it to be obeyed.

“Therefore, based on the dictates of section 7, sub section 3c of the PDP constitution 2017 as amended, it is obvious that the flagbearer of the party in the 2023 presidential election is supposed to come from the Southern part of Nigeria with special focus to the South East zone, considering the fact that a Northerner from North West is currently occupying the seat of the presidency.

“This is why I personally decided to back the presidential ambition of Mr. Peter Obi and his running mate, Sen. Yousuf Datti-Baba Ahmed of the Labour Party, despite being a PDP member, as a protest to the injustice meted against the Southeast zone and the non-adherence to the dictates of the PDP Constitution 2017 on rotation and zoning of Party and Public elective offices.

“To further strengthen my position, I wholeheartedly accepted my nomination to be the Director General of the Obi-Datti Apostles Presidential Campaign Support Group, whose objective among others is to preach the message of hope that the Obi-Datti presidency will bring to the table.”