By Felix Durumbah, Abuja
The 2027 presidential aspiration of Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 polls, Mr Peter Obi,took centrestage on Monday, July 7, in national political discourse.
While Obi, a member of the burgeoning African Democratic Congress (ADC)-backed coalition seeking to stop President Bola Tinubu’s return to Aso Villa in 2027, dismissed assertions and speculations in some quarters that he would run as Vice-presidential candidate to another heavyweight in the coalition and former Vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, declaring that he would run for president,the Presidency negated the position.
The Presidency claimed rather that the former LP flagbearer had been reduced to a lower role to massage the political ambition of Abubakar, who is more popularly called Atiku.
Obi insisted that one term of four years was enough for any serious leader to govern impactfully, stressing that any truly committed president does not necessarily need an elongated term to produce people-oriented results.
As he took the position, Daniel Bwala, one of President Tinubu’s spokesmen, who spoke for the Presidency, said that Obi had been relegated in the scheme of things by the coalition members and had allegedly agreed to be the Director-General (DG) of Atiku’s 2027 presidential election campaign train.
Bwala further alleged that Obi had so descended in the coalition rungs of reckoning that he was presently jostling with former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for who would become Atiku’s running mate.
The declarations by both personalities literally set the social media on fire.
In a statement released by the spokesman of Peter Obi Media Reports, Ibrahim Umar, in Abuja, Obi restated that he will contest for the office of president and urged Nigerians to disregard any other information in that regard.
He said: “I’m going to contest for the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I believe I am qualified for it.”
Addressing the claim of his becoming Atiku’s running mate, Obi said: “This is not in play; nobody has ever discussed that I am going to be A, B or C.”
Emphasizing the virtues in sticking to a one-term presidency from 2027, Obi maintained that it would go a long way to ingrain good governance in the country, respect zoning and stabilize the polity.
“One term is enough to establish that good governance is possible, and if they can impact negatively on us for just two years, why won’t someone achieve a lot in four years?
“It’s also to respect the gentleman’s agreement of zoning, which has been a stabilising factor, even though it’s not in our Constitution.
“I don’t need a day more than four years. I will show the direction of good governance.
“Two years can change it in a good direction. People want to get up and see a president who cares and shows compassion,” he said.
Waving off speculations that he had quit LP in the wake of his public support for the coalition which had adopted ADC, Obi explained that the experience of coalition members was key to preventing the government he intends to form from failing.
His words: “Their experience is critical. I can tell you one of the major companies in the world hired two people who had worked in failed companies because they can tell you why they failed.
“You need the experience of those who have failed and those who have succeeded in moving on, and I need everyone.
“It is a critical experience because they know what can fail a system and they know what was wrong with the system.”
However, responding to questions on Politics Today , a programme on Channels TV, Bwala claimed that Obi had become a political nonentity in the coalition.
Apparently claiming to know some of the goings-on in the coalition, Bwala said Obi has been positioned to assume the role of DG of Atiku’s campaign.
To him, the coalition has decided to hand the presidential ticket to Atiku, and not Obi.
“Peter Obi now is a non-issue. He’s a non starter. Already, he has conceded his presidential ambition to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“Now he has become a second fiddle, but he needs to fight for the Vice-presidential ticket with Rotimi Amaechi. And from what we are hearing, they have convinced him that he will be Director General of the campaign to lead the movement, and that when they win election, Atiku will do one term and then Peter Obi will come back to become president,” Bwala claimed.
