Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential standard-bearer, does not demonstrate the commitment needed to be president of Nigeria, says Salihu Lukman, All Progressives Congress (APC) North-West zonal chairman. He said Mr Obi is an “election merchant.”

According to the APC chieftain, Mr Obi’s characteristics are that of a typical Nigerian politician, more of an election merchant presenting himself every four years for election, even if it means changing political party. 

He stressed that being an election merchant connotes an obvious lack of commitment and discipline to any political party. This, said Mr Lukman, partly explained why Mr Obi moved from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party.

“While it is important to recognise the legitimate disappointment of Nigerians with our leaders and the state of the nation, it will remain a fallacy to imagine that a simple choice of a typical election merchant can resolve Nigeria’s challenges,” the politician explained. “Not just Obi, any other politician with the characteristics of changing political parties for the purpose of contesting elections, such a person is not what Nigeria needs today.”

He added, “Without prejudice to my respect for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, they are both in the same category with Obi.”

The APC stalwart noted that Mr Abubakar had been either a presidential candidate or an aspirant in every election in different parties since 2007.

He also mentioned that Mr Kwankwaso had moved from PDP to APC, back to PDP between 2015 and 2019 before finally forming the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in 2022, presenting himself as the party’s presidential candidate.

Mr Lukman noted that out of all the leading presidential candidates for the February 25 presidential poll, Bola Tinubu Tinubu “is the only one” who has been a loyal party member.

“He is the only contestant who, together with other leaders of APC, envisioned the political roadmap for the defeat of PDP. Together with President Muhammadu Buhari, they provided the inspirational leadership that successfully negotiated the emergence of APC in 2013,” Mr Lukman, the immediate past director-general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), explained in a statement issued on Monday.

Mr Lukman stressed that APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu is his preferred choice in the presidential race and said he would work round-the-clock to ensure the victory of Mr Tinubu and other APC candidates in the elections.

“Many of us in APC are supporting Asiwaju as part of our ongoing campaign to continue to build the APC as a progressive party capable of producing accountable elected representatives at all levels,” the APC chieftain explained. “We do so with full confidence that Tinubu will build on the legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari, which also includes respecting internal debate and contestation within the APC.”

(NAN)