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The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) believes the endorsement of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ijaw Leader Chief Edwin Clark has further weakened the Peoples Democratic Congress (PDP).
Speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, the APC-PCC Spokesman Festus Keyamo said the rejection of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by former members and allies of the party meant that defeat was imminent for Atiku.
Recall that on Sunday, January 1, 2022, Obasanjo declared his support for Obi in a letter. Two days later, Clark threw his weight behind the LP candidate saying another Northerner should not succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming election.
But Keyamo strongly believes that the endorsement of Obi by the two statesmen and the G5 governors' campaign against Atiku may contribute to the PDP’s defeat at the poll.
He said, “The key figures of the PDP in 2019 are the ones pulling out from the coalition. Nothing has affected the APC.
“If you look at 2019, you will see that virtually everything against the APC has collapsed. The PANDEF endorsed Atiku Abubakar in 2019 and Edwin Clark is a member of PANDEF.
“Ohanaeze endorsed Atiku in 2019. Obasanjo endorsed Atku in 2019. Afenifere endorsed Atiku in 2019. Middlebelt Forum endorsed Atiku in 2019.
“What is going on now is that the PDP has actually been turned into shrewd, both internally and externally, through the G-5 governors and imploded even within the supporters and all those that formed alliance with the PDP in 2019.
“Of the results in 2019, can you name any major stakeholder that made the APC win the election then, who has pulled out now? Not one!”
Keyamo explained that the defection of former PDP chieftains, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso who are now presidential candidates of other parties unsettles the PDP.
He added that the endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo and Clark was not against the APC but Atiku.
He said, “But for the PDP, the departure of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who were key components of the PDP in 2019 have since pulled out. Those two factors have upset the PDP now. So, we can confidently say that the PDP has collapsed both internally and externally.
“The recent endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo and Clark was not against the APC, but the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
“I am sure you heard Governor Nyesom Wike’s comment on the development, who said that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi was an indictment on Atiku.
“And we know that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku in 2019 was because of Peter Obi, who was the vice presidential candidate at the time.
“Like Obasanjo, Edwin Clark, who endorsed Atiku/Obi’s ticket in 2019, has followed Obi from the PDP to the Labour Party. What is the effect of that on the APC? Rather, this has made the path to the APC’s victory clearer. These endorsements have made the results of the 2023 presidential election clearer now than before.
He added that the APC would like to see Obasanjo and Clark take the votes they garnered for the PDP in 2019 to the Labour Party. This according to him would make the ruling party wax stronger.