Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed were absent when the party unveiled its presidential campaign council on Wednesday.
While the event was ongoing, Obi tweeted that he was attending the 52nd Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) conference.
“I just arrived at the 52nd ICAN Annual Accountants Conference,” the former governor of Anambra wrote.
Speaking at the unveiling, Doyin Okupe, director-general of the campaign council, said the processes through which Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar emerged as presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), respectively were dishonourable and flawed.
He noted that large turnout witnessed in Labour Party rallies across the country were party members and not rented.
According to Okupe, “In all honesty, these errors of selfish and opportunistic political manipulation are not only short-sighted and dangerous, but strike at the very heart of Nigeria’s peaceful coexistence, and in fact the very survival of the nation as an entity.
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“And that is why, in response to this affront to good judgment, more than at any time in our history, our country is today witnessing her hottest, fiercest and most dynamic citizen-led political experience, spearheaded largely by the youth population.
“At this juncture, for the avoidance of doubt, let me state here clearly that our party, the Labour Party, as well as the Obi-Datti presidential ticket of the party, have not spent a kobo to organise, influence, or secure the massive following and support we have been getting from the Obidient Movement to date”.
Meanwhile, Tanko Yunusa, a former national chairman of the defunct National Conscience Party (NCP) was Wednesday announced as the spokesman of the Obi-Datti presidential campaign team.
F.S. Yusuf, member of North Central Coordinators for the Obi-Datti presidential campaign, made the announcement on his Twitter handle on Wednesday evening.
“Mr @Yunusa has just been announced as the official Spokesperson of the Obi-Datti presidential campaign council. Very balanced! Let’s get to work,” Yusuf wrote.
Yunusa is the spokesman of the National Consultative Front (NCFront which adopted the Labour Party as the 3rd Force for the 2023 general election.
He was the presidential candidate of the NCP in the 2019 election.
