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Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu's inner caucus have revealed that plans were afoot to check the growing popularity of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi ahead of the 2023 election.
Obi coming with force: Pulse reports that Obi's candidacy has continued to gain acceptance across the country, especially in the South-West, where series of solidarity rallies have been staged by the Obidient movement to flaunt their numerical strength.
Tinubu's chances under threat: The former Anambra State Governor's incursion into the South-West has been deemed as a threat to Tinubu's prospects to dominate the region which has been marked as his strongest hold given that he hails from there.
APC takes action: However, the APC campaign team said it has taken cognisance of Obi's momentum and have devised strategies to neutralise whatever threats it may pose ahead of next year's election.
An APC chieftain, who is also one of Tinubu’s strategists, anonymously confirmed to Sunday Punch that a strategy was in place to tame the Obidient movement in the South-West.
The source's word: “Let me tell you what we are considering now to neutralise the movement. Two things will be involved in the electoral campaigns: issues and sentiments. There is always voter apathy in the South-West and if at all there is going to be an increase (in voters’ turnout) in the South-West now, it is going to be pro-Asiwaju because the Igbo people are stamping on our authority in our zone. I am not joking.
“Let me tell you about the ‘Obidients’, the ‘Obidients’ are a movement that cannot be swept under the carpet and I can tell you that they will shift the political terrain of this country.
“The campaign method of the Obi supporters will help the APC in Lagos. The average Yoruba in Lagos, even if they don’t like Asiwaju, they are bent on voting for him to silence the Igbo in Lagos at once. They reduced Obi’s chances by saying Lagos belongs to everybody; it is not a bonus for Obi. If there is going to be any increase, which I am sure voter apathy will reduce in this election, tribal and religious sentiments will play an important role. The turnout won’t favour Obi.
“The average Igbo man is also not talking about Biafra or IPOB now; they are talking about Peter Obi. So, definitely, the Igbo will come out to vote and they will vote for Obi (of the LP) and the PDP in the East. Our campaign now is that we don’t have a choice in Yorubaland and the South-West apart from the APC. The APC is the only party that has given us the opportunity to have a candidate.
“So, apart from Asiwaju, the South-West does not have any other person (in the presidential contest). That is the campaign I am going to personally lead now – sentiment. Without Asiwaju, the Yoruba will have nothing (after 2023). It is not about Asiwaju being good or bad, the Yoruba are stuck with him. I am not joking; it is common sense.”
Obi stands no chance: Meanwhile, the spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, has also dismissed the possibility of Obi creating an upset in the South-West comes 2023.
In a chat with The Punch, the spox boasted that Nigerians were aware that the APC remains the party to beat in the presidential election, adding that the fact that Obidient rallies managed to pull some eye catching crowd in Lagos doesn’t mean Tinubu is losing his strongholds in the South-West.
Keyamo word: “We are having no sleepless night at all. We are sleeping very well as we are confident of victory.
“Nobody is losing sleep that Lagos or any of our strongholds will be lost.”
Obi's camp reacts: While reacting to the report, the media aide to the Labour Party presidential candidate, Emeka Obasi, said that they were not ready to join issues with any member of the ruling, especially those seeking their downfall.
The media aide, instead, restated that Obi is a simple man who remains committed to issued-based campaigns.
Obasi's word: “The issue there is that my principal, Mr Peter Obi, is not into this game for do-or-die. He has said it before and will continue saying it. He will rather do something right and lose than do something wrong to win.
“Nobody is stopping the APC from using whatever strategy they want to employ, provided it is within the law. If they campaign and do whatever they plan to do to win, it is their own problem. We are not trying whatever they deem lawful to do.
“Our own strategy is to campaign to the people issue-based by pointing out Nigeria’s problems and possible solutions to overcome them. That is what our principal has been doing. The more he talks, the more he visits and walk the talk. That’s how he’s winning converts.”