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Osun Assembly Speaker Narrates How Suspected Assailants Laid Siege On Residence

By
Ayodele Oni
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Timothy Owoeye - Speaker Osun State

By Ayodele Oni

The political tension in Osun State took a new dimension as Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, claimed that he escaped being assassinated by people suspected to be political thugs on Wednesday.

He stated that men of Department of State Services, (DSS) and the Police officers attached to the office of the Speaker repelled the assailants, who arrived the Speaker’s residence at around 2.00 am shooting sporadically at the building.

The Speaker and Ijesa South All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders during a press conference in Ilesa on Wednesday, disclosed that the attackers also reached out to other APC members including a member representing Ilesa West State constituency, Wale Adedoyin and Folarin Fafowora, the immediate past Chairman of Ilesa West Central LCDA.

Owoeye explained  that about five members of the APC have been killed in gruesome manner across Eti Oni in Atakumosa East, Oke Aga and Ilesa, notable among the dead is the immediate past Secretary of Atakumosa East LCDA.

“In the early hours of today 22nd February an assassination attempt was made on my life if not for divine Providence the story would have been different.

“I want to salute the security men who stood their ground to prevent my assailants from carrying out their aim.

“Recall that last week, I released a press release about the killings of Ebenezer Alaro, a member of our party whose only crime was to drive a Truck used to convey the public address system we used for our rally from Monday through Thursday.

“He was trailed home after the Thursday rally and was killed in front of his parents house.

“I was also informed that this morning that an electrification project which I have expended over 15 million naira on in Oke Aga has been destroyed and riddled with bullets. I sympathize with the community who will be thrown into darkness because of this senseless politics.

“The recent happening in Osun is becoming worrisome and needs proper attention from every well-meaning citizens, the return of political thuggery after about 12 years of the APC Administration in the states now gives residence and citizen sleepless nights.

“It will not be wrong to say that the change of baton in the government in the state has actually encouraged the return of that dark era of when citizens cannot sleep with their two eyes closed.

“I, therefore, call on the police to investigate the assassination attempt on my life, the gruesome murder of Alaro and others with a view to ensuring that those involved are brought to Justice.

“I want to believe that such heinous crime if not quickly investigated and perpetrators docked could aggravate an already tensed situation that will lead to breakdown of law and order in the State before and during the forthcoming election.

“The Nigerian police and other relevant security Agencies must be seen to be alive to order constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and properties.

“A quick investigation into the attempted murder, murder and other hooliganism will serve as deterrent to people who are hell-bent on distrusting the peace of our society.”

”Bloody Nose Awaits You” – Chief of Defence Staff, Irabor, Promises Election Day Trouble Makers”

By
The Source
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Lucky Irabor CDS

By Gideon Njoku

Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has a chilling message for those who plan to disrupt the Presidential Election on Saturday February 25, 2023.

Nigerians will go to the polls that day to elect a new President who would succeed the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.

But not a few people are worried over the spate of violence and threat to the election, especially, in the South-east.

In the Zone, Simon Ekpa, self- styled disciple of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, detained Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has been threatening fire and brimstone, insisting that  election will not hold in the South-east.

Finland-based Ekpa who, now leads a group, allegedly, a break away from IPOB, called Autopilot, aside from issuing a no-election order in the Zone has, also, declared a sit-at-home order in the whole of the South-east beginning from February 22 to February 27, 2023.  This, ostensibly, is to stop the Igbo from coming out to vote.

In the past couple of days, violence has escalated in the Zone, especially, in Anambra and Imo States, with hoodlums wreaking havoc. Police Stations, especially, in Anambra State, and INEC facilities have been torched. A number of Policemen have been killed, and even private homes have also been razed.

In Okigwe, Imo State, in tye wee hours of Wednesday, they went on rampage, setting people’s homes on fire. The homes of a serving Imo State Cabinet member, that of a Professor of Law and a former Cabinet member, and that of a retired Director of DSS were razed. Sadly, at the home of tye retired Director, a woman died in the inferno.

These are aimed  at scaring people from exercising their voting rights.

But General Irabor, speaking to Journalists on Wednesday after a meeting with Service Chiefs, the Inspector General of Police,  the Director General of tye Department of State Services, DSS, represented by the Director of Operations, among others, has promised a “bloody nose” for those who plan to disrupt the Presidential Election on Saturday.

Giving an update on the preparations made by Security Agencies for the election, Irabor said they are very ready for the job at hand. He promised a violence-free exercise but warned those preparing to disrupt it to “have a change of mind because a bloody nose awaits them.”

Three Days to Presidential Election: Calabar Looks Good For Obi

By
The Source
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Peter Obi

By Stanley Ekpenyong, (South South Bureau Chief)

Three days to the 2023 Presidential Election, residents of Calabar, the sleepy capital of Cross River state, are upbeat for the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi.

Except few political appointees of the State Government, virtually every one in Calabar is emphatic about voting Obi on Saturday.

Even among Government appointees,  those of them vociferously mouthing support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu on social media platforms, canvass support for Obi outside Government circles.

In drinking joints, Churches and at social events, they openly profess support for the Labour Party candidate.

Commercial keke, okada, cab and bus drivers do not hide their preference too. Their modus operandi is to strike conversation with their passengers around the 2023 general election and how Nigerians have suffered in the hands of the APC in the last eight years and how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is not a credible alternative to rescue and restore Nigeria.

And then, the clincher is always an admonition to vote Peter Obi “to save us”

A cab ride the magazine undertook Wednesday from Etta Agbor roundabout to the popular Watts market was dominated by a discussion on why Obi is a better choice.

Acting as a lone dissent voice to properly gauge the mood of the passengers almost caused this magazine an assault by an incensed passenger who could not understand why “person wey no dey crazy still dey support APC”

With a clinched fist and a raised voice, he made towards the magazine, shouting, “sufferness no dey tire you? You still wan suffer under APC”, abi? I no under why person wey no dey crazy dey still support APC because na only person wey him head no correct fit support that party”.

It took the intervention of an older passenger to restore calm.

In a similar vein, a middle aged man who came for shopping at a superstore along IBB Way by Akim was shouted down on Monday by other shoppers when he urged them to vote the APC, insisting that Tinubu will reverse the Naira redesign policy if elected into office.

However, in an apparent face- saving measure, he was later to claim he was merely joking.

A visit to various markets, drinking joints, viewing centres, eateries etc in the city tells the same story of overwhelming eagerness and resolve to vote Obi.

Feb. 25: Diasporan Yoruba Rally Support For Tinubu

By
James Orji
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu At Arewa Joint Committee Forum

Yoruba Global Council, YGC has endorsed Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives, APC presidential candidate as the next pesident.

The APC candidate who is tied in a three horse race with Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been receiving support across the country in his quest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, the most recent being the one he got from South west leaders last weekend.

Speaking of the group’s support for the APC candidate, the foremost Yoruba body said it has become pertinent to put to rest wrong perceptions about the former Lagos governor.

YGC spokespersons Prof. Lere Amusan and General Secretary, Segun Akanni in a statement jointly signed urged Yoruba men and women to rally round the candidature of Tinubu in ensuring that he emerged winner in the February 25 presidential election.

“Tinubu only, among the top three candidates for the February 25 presidential election, possesses the required standard in education, exposure and experience to move Nigerians out her present challenges and provide Nigerians a new lease of life in line with his campaign slogan, ‘Renewed Hope,” posit Amusan and Akanni, adding that YGC is throwing its support for Tinubu in line with its core mandate of protecting the interest and advancing the course and aspiration of Yoruba sons and daughters in any fields, anywhere in the world.

Yoruba Global Council, in its statement, noted that Nigeria’s foundation appears to shaky as songs of disintegration and dismemberment are being echoed by different ethnic nationalities on account of the age-long discontent and disillusionment occasioned by the inequitable distribution of the country’s commonwealth and the apparent neglect of the Federal Character Code thereby denying some sections of Nigeria a sense of belonging.

“Tinubu and the party he represents, APC, is conscious of the depressing nature of our country and, if elected, is more than determined to right the wrongs and bring genuine relief to the victimized and marginalized Nigerians as well creating an enabling environment for all Nigerians to thrive and succeed irrespective of tribe, religion or party affiliation.”

The statement said Tinubu is a detribalise Nigerian who has a track record of appointing non- Yoruba into his cabinet when he was Lagos state governor.

recaptures Tinubu’s track record as Lagos State governor when he appointed Igbos as commissioners and other qualified non Yoruba persons into key governmental positions, which it notes speaks volume of his belief in the oneness of the Nigerian nation.

Rivers: Wike Backtracks, Denies Support For Tinubu

By
James Orji
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Tinubu-Wike and Atiku

Embattled and seemingly confused Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has denied he is supporting the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the Presidential election scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2023.

This is the first time Wike is denying the story which has been in the streets for sometime, and which he helped give wings to fly by his actions and utterances.

Wike and four other Governors whose Leader he is, have been at loggerheads  with the leadership of his Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The disagreement which factionalised the Party, with Wike’s Group holding the short end of the stick, began when Wike lost the Party’s Presidential Primary to Atiku Abubakar and also lost the Vice Presidential slot, which he desperately desired after his loss to Atiku. The PDP candidate preferred the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa to Wike.

Wike and Group who go by the name, G5, and later, Integrity Group, hold the National Chairman of the Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu responsible for his losses, and the Group vowed never to participate in any Party activities, including the Presidential Campaign. As a condition to participate, they asked that Ayu must step down from office in favour of a Southerner for what they called equity.

All appeals to them fell on deaf ears, all meetings, in vain. Instead, the Governors – Wike, Samuel Ortom, Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Seyi Makinde, Oyo – embarked on a vigorous demarketing of the PDP and its Presidential Candidate. Wike’s, in particular, was very bad.

They let it be known that they would never support Atiku, with Wike promising Atiku would fail, he would “pepper” him, and that PDP would cry. Wike has done  everything to frustrate Atiku’s Campaign in Rivers State, including, arresting and prosecuting and persecuting any PDP member loyal to Atiku and the National Leadership of the Party. The climax was his  abortion of the Presidential Campaign Rally in Porthacourt by making the environment uncomfortable for it to hold.

He promised, in December of 2022, that he would make public to Rivers people, his preferred Presidential Candidate in January 2023.

Three days to the Presidential election, he has failed to do so. But his utterances and actions in the past three weeks point to the fact that he is supporting the Candidate of the APC,  Tinubu. When the story made the rounds that he had instructed members of his Cabinet and National and State Assembly members, Chairmen and Ward Leaders to mobilise all supporters and vote Tinubu, he did not deny it.

Instead  he indirectly affirmed it by giving, free of charge, the APC PCC, the venue for the Party’s Presidential Rally. He received Tinubu and entourage warmly at the Government House, and was full of praises for the APC Candidate. He also praised the APC Governors who championed the zoning of the Presidential office to the South.

But, a few days to the election, feelers are that Wike is realising that he “over-did it”, and so, worried about his political future.

The first sign came when he ran to the Federal Court, Abuja, to save him from being suspended or expelled from the Party. Second, at a Rally a couple of days ago, he begged Rivers people to save his political career by not voting for those who would jail or kill him. And now, he has suddenly denied supporting Tinubu.

His Chief of Staff, Chukwumaeze Woke, denied that the Governor  directed his supporters to vote for Tinubu.

“Wike never told Rivers people to vote for Tinubu because of his political relevance,” Woke said.

He spoke on a radio programme  Wednesday, and dismissed the reports as false. He described Wike as a beautiful bride, being courted by many politicians in the country who value his competence and capacity.

The Chief of Staff said the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, has been sending emissaries to his principal to beg for his support.

Governor Wike will leave office on May 29, 2023. For now, depending on who wins the Presidential election, his political future seems to hang in the balance.

Ecobank Rewards Customers With Millions

By
James Orji
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0

Ecobank Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), has rewarded four customers, being winners in the Super Rewards deposit promo ,with N1 million each.

The Super Rewards Campaign is a customer-focused initiative designed by Ecobank Nigeria to reward customers’ loyalty and consistent use of the bank’s electronic payment platforms.

This edition of Super Reward campaign, tagged, ‘Season 3.1,’ rewarded 100 customers monthly since November, 2022 with cash prizes of N50,000, while four customers won N1 million each at the end of the three-month campaign which ran between November 2022 to January 2023. The four winners are Mr John Sokeipiriala, Ahmed Said, Onashile Obafemi, and a couple with a joint account, Mr David Edokwe and Mrs Ifeoma Edokwe.

Speaking at the cheque presentation in Lagos, Head, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs Korede Adeniyi, said the scheme was introduced by the bank to reward customers’ loyalty, adding that it was also to promote the use of its electronic payment channels that offered convenient banking.

According to her, “This is the third edition of our reward initiative which started about two years ago. The feedback from our customers have been quite impressive. It is not just to encourage people to save but also transact on our digital channels. Today, you and I know that with the cash scarcity, the digital banking channels have become very helpful. So today, we’re rewarding four customers who won N4m. We have also rewarded 100 customers with cash prizes of N50,000 monthly during the period of the campaign.”

Commenting on the dynamics of the scheme, Head, Asset Products, Ecobank Nigeria, Daberechi Effiong, said the conditions to qualify for the scheme were made simple and easy to ensure both new and existing customers of the bank participate and get rewarded. According to her, “new customers were expected to open an account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30-day period”. “Same applies to existing customers, who only need to fund their active account with a minimum of N5,000 or reactivate their dormant account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30-day period.”

One of the joint account winners, Ifeoma Ezokwe, said she and her husband did not expect they would win a promo from the bank. She said, “When we got married, we decided that joint account is one of the things we’re going to inculcate into the marriage, and we’ve been operating the accounts very well. For more than 12 or 13 years we’ve been running the joint account.”

Media Group Says CBN Cash Policy May Lead To Voters Apathy

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Foremost Media Group, Journalists For Democratic Rights, JODER, has lamented that the Apex Bank’s  Cash Policy may likely lead to Voters apathy on Saturday February 25th, 2023, when the Presidential Election Will hold.

It said that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, cash swap may deny the democratic rights of millions of Nigerians who will be unable to cast their votes due to the prevailing lack of access to funds they own which in turn will affect their movements.

In a statement on Tuesday, by the Executive Director, Adewale Adeoye, it said millions of Nigerians work or reside outside the location of their polling units the tradition being to travel to their states or communities during each election season. The cash strapped situation will see many Nigerians unable to meet the aspirations of casting their votes, the group said.

The Group added that In the past two weeks, Intra and inter-state movements of people have almost been stunted.

“Millions of Nigerians who register outside their work places or homes will not be able to perform the historic ritual of electoral migration during the National Elections which begins on Saturday.

“JODER has been active in election monitoring since 1999. The custom is that in states, millions of people register in their communities far from where they live or work. Some register in their communities located outside their state of residency. They travel ahead of the election either from one community to the other or from one state to the other. The CBN policy is set to drastically pull down this tradition’”, Adeoye said.

Adeoye furthermore stressed that the random interviews during election monitoring indicated that millions of people travel with the sole purpose of going home to vote in their communities but that the CBN cash policy will flounder the opportunity.

This is  coming at a time that the transfer window of voters cards has been closed.

The pro-media rights group said during elections, there are usually mass movements across the six geo-political zones. Without cash, a situation imposed on voters and with the epileptic inter-bank transfers, millions of Nigerians will be denied their democratic right underlining the fascist and despotic policy of the CBN policy implementation mechanism.

Adeoye said the policy has also destroyed the prospect of strategic communication between political parties and voters since access to mass communication instruments like pamphlets, radio jingles and community and rural meetings were annulled due to scarcity of cash and trade hitches occasioned by the CBN policy.

JODER said it is difficult to assess the number of Nigerians that will be affected due to lack of cash to travel ahead of the election but estimates that the number should be in millions.

“We estimate  that millions of people will be disenfranchised by the CBN policy. This portrays the CBN as anti-democracy whereas a responsible apx bank should realize the importance of representative government to economic growth and prosperity”.

The group said Voters need cash for electoral migration both within, outside the states and even for thousands of Nigerians expected to come home from outside the country. Due to lack of cash, millions of voters are expected to stay back having been economically castrated by the CBN policy.

On corruption, JODER said it is unlikely that the policy will stop vote buying but would only enhance vote inducement to be paid in areas instead of instant payment associated with past elections while the possibility of voters becoming more desperate for compensation has been fueled by the impoverishing CBN policy.

“The policy has made many people poorer. They have money that they cannot access. The consequence is that with voters brought to the lowest economic ebb, they will be more desperate for compensation to address immediate needs, having been stripped of livelihood by the cash crunch.”.

The Group in the Statement said the anti-corruption fight is not the primary responsibility of the CBN adding that what the CBN needed to do is to provide relevant information for the anti-graft agencies.

“With 2.7trillion return to the vaults of banks, Nigerians waited in vain for the CBN to provide information on those who made suspicious deposits. What the apex bank did in return was to withhold funds belonging to poor persons which is tantamount to economic sabotage on a large and unprecedented scale”.

JODER said the CBN policy was like starving a whole community of food and water for weeks on the pretext that one child in the community  is suspected of stealing from the store house.

“The CBN has undermined democracy and sustainable development by its ill-thought and despotic approach to an otherwise progressive fiscal policy that ought to have been driven with over all public good from the beginning”, the statement reads.

Nigerian Army Approves Hotlines For Operation Safe Conduct

By
The Source
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0
Nigerian Army Logo

In an effort to effectively carry out its constitutional mandate of providing support to civil authorities and working in synergy with the Nigeria Police (NP) to ensure protection of lives and property during the forthcoming 2023 elections, the Nigerian Army (NA) has approved a list of Hotlines to monitor and report any suspicious act or acts of violence by unscrupulous persons or group of persons capable of disrupting the peaceful conduct of the 2023 general election, as well as the conduct of troops deployed to provide security during the election.

This is part of NA’s move to support the lead security agency, the NP for the successful conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections.

It could be recalled that the NA had earlier produced and circulated Codes of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Operation Safe Conduct to formations and Units to provide guidance and ensure that troops operate within the provisions of the codes and rules.

Members of the general public are please enjoined to call the phone numbers below in their various states including the Federal Capital Territory Abuja to report any security breach during the elections.

  1. ABIA 08031113129
  2. Adamawa 08022750987
  3. Akwa-Ibom 07034470916
  4. Anambra 07035891185
  5. BAUCHI 08128063675
  6. BAYELSA 08033241005
  7. BENUE 08080754339
  8. BORNO 09099616160, 08086987079
  9. CROSS RIVER 08037084192
  10. DELTA STATE 07035070797
  11. EBONYI 08158274048
  12. EDO 09066325953
  13. EKITI 08037851448
  14. ENUGU 09032102212 08023097458
  15. GOMBE 07063908779, 08082557782
  16. IMO 07034907427
  17. JIGAWA 07017791414, 08100144363
  18. KADUNA 07031544227 08028580978, 08035242633
  19. KANO STATE 08038432656
  20. KASTINA 08108854061, 09012998054
  21. KEBBI 09130213661
  22. KOGI 08033217964
  23. KWARA 09060001270
  24. LAGOS 08034025825, 08023190487, 09024409000, 08033709434
  25. NASSARAWA 09051009404
  26. NIGER 07031346425
  27. OGUN 09116589494
  28. ONDO 08036130535
  29. OSUN 09019683922
  30. OYO 07047703000
  31. PLATEAU 08037116395, 07031260622
  32. RIVERS 08064274222
  33. SOKOTO 07069084570, 07052693532, 08136913284
  34. TARABA 08136728969, 08060902363
  35. YOBE 08061397656
  36. ZAMFARA 08140075541
  37. FCT 09114913164, 08186690471, 08079153860, 08034276240, 08164304255 09159793968

Group To INEC: Give Nigerians Credible Elections

By
The Source
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0

A public policy think tank, the NEO AFRICANA CENTRE (NAC), has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give Nigeria a free, fair and credible elections in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly electoral contest.

The Centre said that this is the least the people expect from the commission after five months of exasperating campaigns by the various political parties and their candidates.

NAC noted that except for a few cases of smear campaigns by some political parties and their candidates, the campaigns were largely robust and issue-based especially that of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, who was easily the face of the freshness and vibrancy that defined the campaigns. The Centre said the Peter Obi effect has offered something new to our politics and urges INEC to conduct a free and transparent contest that will reflect the new mood of the nation.

To this end, NAC has implored INEC to put its best foot forward in order to deliver an election that will bear out the efforts of the candidates at the campaigns.

In a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Jenkins Udu, the Centre said it is looking forward to appropriate deployment of technology as has been promised by INEC in order to make the exercise as transparent and credible as possible.

The statement reads in part:

“We are delighted that the elections are finally here. It has taken faith in and commitment to the electoral process for Nigerians to get to this point. The candidates and the political parties have faced the people at various fora where they tried to sell their agenda. The people heard them clearly and are ready now to make their choices. It behoves the electoral umpire at this point to ensure that the elections are free, fair and transparent as should be the case in a truly democratic setting.

“We are encouraged the more by the plan by the commission to deploy technology in the conduct of the polls. We look forward to the commission’s activation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System as well as the INEC Result Viewing portal all of which are improvements in the way elections were conducted in the past.

“We take seriously the assurances of the commission that it will deploy these devices to protect the sanctity of the choice made by Nigerians at the polls. We therefore task the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to live up to his promise that ‘votes will continue to count and will be the sole determinant of the electoral outcome’.

“It must be appreciated by all concerned, especially the electoral commission, that the forthcoming polls hold the key to a peaceful and stable Nigeria. All hands must therefore be on deck to ensure that we do not miss this golden opportunity to reset and reengineer the country. Nigerians are eagerly looking forward to a new Nigeria that will work for all.

“Only a credible election that will give the people the candidates they have voted for will make this possible. INEC should therefore live above board. It must be truly impartial in the discharge of its responsibilities. Nigerians must not be disappointed by the Commission.”

“Desperate Opponents Seeking Obi’s Anointing From Back Door

By
The Source
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0
Peter Obi

With barely 72 hours to poll, the Media Office of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates of the Labour Party, has accused Political opponents of mischief. It said they  have intensified their efforts to “tap into the envious profile of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, ostensibly for want of good ingredients on their candidate to market at this wee hour left.”

In a statement, it accused those it called “PDP marketers of mischievously, at all costs, tapping on the name of the moment, Peter Obi of the Labour Party.”

The statement reads: “The Obi-Datti Media Office’s attention has been drawn to some videos of the Labour Party’s Presidential Standard bearer, Peter Obi when he was the running mate to the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on the  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP platform in 2019 when he called on Nigerians to vote for Atiku.

“Also, a video of Obi attending the Presidential declaration of Atiku earlier in the year explaining why he attended the declaration while nursing the same ambition is being circulated using Obi’s testimonial on Atiku.

“It’s understandable why everybody wants to tap into Obi’s ‘anointing’.He is the only name in the political space currently that has the people’s acceptance and his opponents want to draw from the living water, as it were.

“Obi had delivered and still delivering tempting and irresistible messages that resonate with the Nigerian people, which opponents think they can tap from by posting his past remarks on them to deceive credulous voters.

“Truth remains that Obi asked Nigerians to vote for Atiku in 2019 when he was his running mate when he had hoped his position as his number two will help his aspirations especially as the position of President was justifiably zoned to the geopolitical North then.

“Today all discerning minds are unanimous that for justice, peace, and stability, the Presidency of this country should go South and in particular the South East who are yet to taste the position especially as the North held the position for the past eight years.

“The LP Presidential ticket holder had also succinctly explained why he attended Atiku’s declaration while nursing the same ambition because he does not see politics as a war of enemies more so that he was still in the same political party, the PDP with Atiku then.

“The Obi-Datti Media office,, therefore wishes to appeal to Nigerians particularly the Obedient family to disregard the mischief intended by the circulators of such video who thought they can tap on Obi’s anointing from the back door.

“If they have a message to Nigerians why the voters should look their way on Saturday, February 25, 2023, they should have been showcasing it instead of looking for a good name to tap from.

“Finally, the Obi-Datti Media office wishes to advise these mischief makers who are seeking to harvest where they did not sow that this electioneering is an era of 3cs; Competence, Character, and Capacity and no longer of my turn or entitlements based on religion and tribe. That era is history.”

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