The All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council in Nigeria has described the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as the country’s “most dangerous and divisive politician” following his defeat in the presidential election. The APC claimed that Obi rode on the waves of religion and ethnicity in Saturday’s election, which makes him dangerous and divisive. The Special Adviser on Media and Communication for the PCC, Dele Alake, spoke at a press conference in Abuja to address allegations of rigging and collusion with the electoral umpire. The president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was announced as the winner of the election on Wednesday, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Obi. Both Abubakar and Obi have rejected the results, alleging violence and massive rigging.
The PCC claimed that Obi elevated his well-known clannish mentality to a most unfortunate height by openly anchoring his campaign on religion and ethnicity, which made him dangerous and divisive. The council suggested that Obi took advantage of Nigerian youths who were earnestly in search of a hero and presented himself as a poster boy for and a champion of the country’s fault lines. However, Obi’s credentials are eternally stained as a former governor with no remarkable legacy. The PCC also criticized the LP’s attempt to convince the court and questioned how a divisive politician like Obi could take advantage of Nigerian youths. The APC campaign council mocked the LP’s attempt to compete with political parties like APC and PDP when they could not fill up their quota for polling booth agents with a shortfall of over 40,000. It would be interesting to see what evidence of rigging the LP will present before the court when they could not appoint agents to monitor nearly a quarter of the venues of the election.
While applauding Obi and Atiku’s decision to shift their battle to the judicial turf, Alake stated that it would be a miracle to see how they hoped to overturn the election results in court. The former Lagos commissioner reiterated that by the time they were through with their journey, the APC train would have left the station in its bid to make the country better for all Nigerians.
Reacting, the Chief Spokesman for Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, said the continuous attack on Obi by the ruling party was a desperate attempt to shield their fear. Tanko stated that virtually all the supporters of the President-elect know that he didn’t win the election and would soon be found out in court, hence the deliberate resort to intimidation.
In summary, the APC campaign council claims that Obi is a dangerous and divisive politician who rode on the waves of religion and ethnicity in Saturday’s election. The council criticized the LP’s attempt to compete with the APC and PDP in the election and questioned their ability to monitor the election effectively. Meanwhile, Obi and Atiku have taken their case to court to seek redress over the alleged violence and massive rigging.
Source: Punch
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