Chimaroke Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu state has advised the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the February 25 election to withdraw his petition against the winner of the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the keenly contested election, ahead of Obi who came a distant third.
The LP candidate alongside the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar who came second in the election filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the victory of Tinubu on the basis that he did not win the election fair and square.
But in a statement on Sunday, Nnamani said the LP candidate’s appeal will fail, saying that all Obi wants to achieve is to discredit the former Lagos state governor.
The former governor said the southeast stands to lose if Obi continues to pursue his petition against the APC candidate.
Rather than going to court, Nnamani said Obi should have allowed Igbo leaders to negotiate with the APC candidate in other to play a critical role in the next government.
Tinubu will be sworn in as president and commander-in-chief on May 29, 2023.
According to him, Igbo must not be left out in the ongoing negotiations among all the geo-political zones to play critical roles in Tinubu’s government, adding that Obi’s petition will fail.
He said “His Petition is dead on arrival. He does not have the spread or national appeal. His appeal to non-electoral matters is to demarket the President-elect and besmirch his reputation.
” His petition is ego-driven, a joke carried too far . His attempt to highlight non-electoral issues is trying to embarrass the President-elect.
“Obi needs to come down from his high horse to allow sedate minds to negotiate on behalf of the Igbo and South East for a safe landing to include our stake in the national Palavar and Share of the accruals of the commonwealth.
“We must join the mainstream and participate in making a new Nigeria. We are not going anywhere. We de kampe and ready to bargain for our own share. It is common knowledge that others are doing the same.”
