- ‘It ‘ll be very difficult for the northern voters to vote for Obi* — Kwankwaso
The planned meger between the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the Labour Party appears to be experiencing serious logjam currently as discordant tunes have been heard in the fold of the two political parties.
If the recent comment by the presidential candidate of the NNPP, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is anything to go by, things are at a breaking point for the two opposition parties hoping to form a formidable alliance that would possibly rattle the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to their base in the 2023 elections.
Kwankwanso took a swipe at the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi for not shelving his presidential ambition to take up the running mate ticket in the planned alliance amid rebuttal from the Labour Party, who blasted back and told the former Kano Governor to not be arrogant.’
The Kano-born politician who spoke while featuring on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, said Obi should accept the running mate offer as it would be difficult for him to singlehandedly pull votes from the North.
He also alleged that Obi had been frustrating the negotiations of the NNPP and the LP alliance.
He explained that Obi was being influenced by some outsiders in the meger talks. Kwankwaso added that the merger had been stalled by the refusal of both parties to shift grounds on who will become the presidential candidate when it finally happens.
This according to him, would make the two parties lose out in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
“Most of the things that are happening in the South, especially in the South East; people are not comfortable with that and as long as you have somebody from there (Southeast) in any party, it will be very difficult for the northern voters to vote, and that’s the situation now,” he said.
When asked if the former Minister of Defence had agreed with Obi on joining forces to defeat the two dominant parties – opposition PDP and ruling All Progressives Congress, he said the NNPP is discussing with “so many people, individuals, groups and parties,” believing that at the end of the day, it would win elections at all levels.
While Kwankwaso noted that he had yet to meet with Obi for negotiations, a committee set up to negotiate the alliance had met with the ex-Anambra governor and “I believe that it is highly likely that we are going to meet and discuss the issue of coming together as a family.”
Reacting to the statement, the National Chairman of LP, Julius Abure, in an interview, said, Kwankwaso stands to benefit more from the merger than Obi as the former governor is the most popular.
Abure was quoted by The Punch to have said Obi will not run as anyone’s running mate, saying he is the most qualified candidate to emerge as the country’s next president.
In his words, “The truth of the matter is that it is in his (Kwankwaso’s) own interest for him to take the Vice Presidency. Peter Obi is the man of the moment, he has the credentials and he is the most popular as we speak and not Kwankwaso.
“When you look at fairness and equity, it doesn’t favour Kwankwaso, the mood of the country as it stands does not favour Kwankwaso. The late President Musa Yar’adua was from the North West, the current President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is from the North West, Nigerians will not accept another person from the North West.
“These are factors that come to play and I don’t think we should be arrogant about it.” The LP National Chairman said.
