Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, says the Labour Party (LP) and its standard bearer Peter Obi cannot gain power by visiting past leaders “who destroyed Nigeria”.

“Let me challenge the leaders of the Labour Party. You aren’t going to get power in Nigeria by adopting the methods of the bourgeoisie. If you want to mobilise the Nigerian people, you must go beyond visiting those who destroyed Nigeria,” Mr Falana said while addressing the LP’s national retreat in Lagos on Monday. 

“From today, your candidate must go to all the offices of trade unions in Nigeria. The offices of women organisations, the officers of youth organisations because the people you are competing with have acquired, albeit illegally, unbelievable sums of money. They want to bribe voters with it,” the human rights lawyer added. 

Mr Obi has moved round the country consulting past leaders, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo and military ruler Ibrahim Babangida.

The LP flagbearer also harbours soft spots for other members of the establishment, such as Atiku Abubakar, whom he has constantly described as his boss. 

Mr Obi has also disclosed that his administration, if elected, will not probe past Nigerian leaders with a history of corruption and human rights abuse.

Mixed reactions have trailed Mr Obi’s bias toward the status quo, the highest coming from the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, who sees Mr Obi as having nothing different to offer from the establishment. 

Unlike Mr Obi, Mr Sowore has vowed to prosecute all past corrupt public office holders, adding that “Those who destroy our past cannot take us to the future.”