A former governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani, has advised Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to withdraw his petition challenging the election of Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

Mr Nnamani said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, urging Mr Obi and his supporters to accept the reality of the fact that Mr Tinubu had emerged as the President-elect of Nigeria.

“Obi knows he has neither spread nor national appeal to win the presidential election, what Obi is doing with the petition is trying to demarket Tinubu.

“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 damage his reputation.

“He does not have near spread and national appeal, the petition is ego driven and a joke carried too far.

“His attempt to highlight non electoral issues is trying to embarrass the President elect,” he said.

Mr Nnamani said Mr Obi needed to come down from his high horse to allow negotiation on behalf of the Igbo nation and South-East for a stake in the national share of the accruals of the commonwealth.

“We must join the mainstream and participate in the making of a new Nigeria.

“We are not going anywhere, and are ready to bargain for our own share. It is a common knowledge that others are doing the same.

“Igbo has to confront reality now or be consigned to the backwoods of history. Time to align is now,” he said. 

Mr Nnamani, who currently represents Enugu East at the Senate, lost his re-election bid to Labour’s Chukwu Oyibo in March.

(NAN)