Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has explained why his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, dumped the main opposition party in the build-up to the PDP’s presidential primary election in 2022.
Speaking at a press conference on the outcome of the February 25 Presidential election in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku claimed Obi left the PDP because he was afraid of the demands of the party’s governors, adding that he was in a “rush”.
Atiku said, “I think Peter [Obi] was in a rush. When the campaign started, and our PDP governors sat down and said they must produce the presidential and vice presidential candidates, the chief of staff among themselves, Peter, got scared and left.
I didn’t get scared. I stood up against the governors. When we founded the PDP, some of them were perhaps in secondary schools or universities. So, why should I be afraid? So, I stood up and I fought them. They fought me and I fought them and I won the primary election.
So, if he was there, nothing could’ve stopped him from becoming a running mate because I had the right to choose whoever I wanted as my running mate.”
News360 Info recalls that Obi had, on May 27, 2022, dumped PDP for the Labour Party.
The former Anambra governor had claimed that the LP is the right platform that aligns with his “aspirations and my mantra of taking the country from consumption to production.”
Meanwhile, both Atiku and Obi lost the 2023 Presidential election conducted last Saturday.
Both men came second and third position, respectively, behind APC’s Bola Tinubu, who was announced the winner of the Presidential election by the INEC.
Tinubu has since received his Certificate of Return.
