Calls Mount for Atiku to Step Down for Obi in Presidential Race

The Labour Party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, has called on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw his presidential bid and support Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State, instead.

Akeni, during an interview with ARISE Television on Friday, warns that divided opposition votes would guarantee an easy second term for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Akeni stated that only Peter Obi could unite Nigerians and defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next election.

Explaining why Atiku should step aside, Akeni stressed that Peter Obi represents the only realistic chance of defeating the APC.

He said, “The same understanding that our country has been blessed by an extraordinary individual in the person of Peter Obi is what drives us today. We also have a similar understanding that our country has been blessed by an extraordinary person, the person of His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“Two giants strutting the political space of Nigeria, on the side of the progressive aisle. Looking at the two personalities, their backgrounds, where they’re coming from, and where they have told Nigerians they are heading, we say that it is time to come to the intersection of their individual aspirations, and to take a stand. And the steps we have taken is based on research and study.”

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Akeni also dismissed the insinuation of faction within the Labour Party, adding that the Supreme Court judgement has resolved all leadership crises.

He stressed, “There is no faction in the Labour Party. The judgment of the Supreme Court put paid to that. The interpretation that followed a few months ago also sealed that judgment. There is only one Labour Party. Whatever else you see outside the Senate, on the night of the postman-led leadership of the Labour Party, is just smoke and fog that is being created for persons who have determined that the progress of this country and the progress of the Labour Party in particular is not of any interest to them. All they seek is a platform to line their pockets by impersonating the structures, the institution of the Labour Party.

“That is beyond their reach now because both the Supreme Court and the federal high court interpretations that came afterwards have put any activity of the Labour Party beyond their reach. There is only one body, the one led by Senator Ben Ali-Ousmane as the interim national chairman, and that is the only one that exists.”