A POLITICAL and socio-cultural organization of Nigeria’s Southeastern leaders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has said the ruling All Progressives Congress and Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, are frightened by the emergence of Peter Obi as the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election.
The group, in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday, stated that 18 sitting governors across party lines and some of the country’s past leaders were supporting Obi’s presidential bid.
The secretary-general of the group, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, did not, however, disclose the names of the governors or past leaders.
The statement read, “This is a movement to take back Nigeria from the days of locusts, greedy and selfish politicians. It is a movement to rescue the country from adversity, economic slump, ASUU strike, insecurity, and corruption. Nigerians have demonstrated readiness to take back their country through the ballot box and it behoves the INEC to make the votes count.
“As we speak, about 18 governors from the North and the South, cutting across party lines, are behind the scenes putting up structures for Obi to win the 2023 election. In addition, some former presidents and elder statesmen are in support of Obi’s candidature. They are all convinced that Obi has something different from all the other candidates.”
The group stated Nigerians “are united in the dethronement of misgovernance in Aso Rock,” and were determined to make a political change through the ballot box with a third force presidency.
“This is the first time we are seeing such a strong political movement in Nigeria that is not being sponsored by politicians, but by rather the masses,” the statement read.
Sinafi Omanga is a multimedia journalist and researcher with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. He has a keen interest in humanitarian reporting, social justice, and environment.
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@OmangaSinafi
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