The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has explained why he is different from other politicians who have at a time decamped to another party.
Recall that Obi was a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member before he decamped to Labour Party a few months ago.
The former Governor of Anambra State was a loyal member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) before joining PDP.
Obi dumped APGA for PDP in 2014 and stayed eight years in the nation’s main opposition party. Ahead of the 2019 general election, however, Obi emerged as the vice presidential candidate for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, but they lost the election to Muhammadu Buhari.
Subsequently, in May 2022, the former governor dumped PDP to join Labour Party. Fortunately for him, he was given the party’s 2023 presidential ticket.
However, there have been a series of submissions about Obi since he launched his presidential campaign. Some of the assertions Naija News understands have played down Obi’s competency and ability to lead Nigeria.
It is believed by some stakeholders that Obi is not different from other politicians who have dumped their former camp for their political gains.
Some of the critics said due to his movement from one party to another, and because he was a member of the political class that brought the country to its present situation; he cannot be different from them.
You Can’t Claim To Be Strange To The PDP
Meanwhile, the Governor of Delta State and Vice Presidential candidate to PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, Ifeanyi Okowa, recently re-echoed the knock on Obi, stating that the former governor cannot claim to be a different breed.
Okowa who spoke during a town hall meeting organised by Arise TV over the weekend said Obi cannot claim to be strange to the main opposition party in Nigeria because he was once a member of the party.
The APC chieftain said, “The last time I checked, in 2019, I’m sure Peter Obi was the vice-presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar and he paid a lot of tributes to Atiku Abubakar and the last time I checked, up till May 24, 2022, he was still an aspirant under the PDP.
“So, he cannot claim to be strange to the PDP or to the party. It is wrong to present that situation to Nigerians and I think it is important to address issues the way they are.”
In an attempt to defend his person, Obi while interacting with Trust TV said he is different from other politicians because he seeks to do the right things.
According to him, he would rather lose doing the right thing than win doing the wrong thing.
“I am different. The difference is that when I see things not going the way I think they should, I move on. I would rather do the right thing and lose than do the wrong thing and win, that is why I am different,” the former governor noted.
