No Backing Down, I’ll Run Again In 2027 – Obi

• Fear, anxiety reign in anti-Tinubu camp

BY VICTOR BUORO – The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, says there is no backing down in his aspiration to ensure a new Nigeria is possible by 2027.

In a move that seems to indicate his lack of interest in the expanding coalition building up to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections, Obi told his supporters that having another shot at the Presidency on the LP’s platform is a done deal going forward.

Speaking to a group of young supporters in a video circulating on the Party’s WhatsApp platform, as recorded by the Danroyce TV on Saturday, the former Anambra State Governor also blamed the Federal Government for the seeming intractable crises in the country’s two dominant opposition political parties, the LP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to him, the government is responsible for the current crisis, believing that such will work in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) going into the 2027 elections.

Obi, who also responded to question from a youth, visibly worried about his seeming indifference towards the LP’s crisis, Obi said; “What is happening in the Labour Party and the PDP is caused by the government. Quote me anywhere.

“We had a problem in our party before, in the past, and (Umaru) Yar’Adua was the President. I went to him then; he called the (then) INEC Chairman Professor Maurice Iwu and told him I don’t want any problem in any party. We were forced to fix it.

“But today, in all the parties, there are problems. These are deliberate problems caused by the system. These are some of the things I want to clean up if I have the opportunity. Parties will function very well because you can’t have a system working without a strong opposition.”

The LP torch-bearer tasked Nigerians to take responsibility in ensuring that their votes count, adding even if agents are paid by political parties to look after their interests, the ultimate decision about the people’s votes counting rests with voters.

He also urged Nigerian youths and the electorate not to be discouraged because positive change will generally be resisted by those who are beneficiaries of the old and existing order.

The former Anambra State governor also said he would not mind canvassing that there should be a retirement age for politicians seeking public office, adding that by the time the 2027 election holds, he would be 65 years old, and would not want to be contesting for elections in his 70s.

On the question about the platform he is eyeing to contest the 2027 elections, Obi said; “I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party.”

The latest comments by Leader of the popular ‘Obidient’ Movement are coming against the backdrop of reports that top opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal among others are building and consolidating a Coalition aimed at taking the ruling APC out of power at the centre come 2027.

For now, reports indicate that having jettisoned the idea of using the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the proposed coalition, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has suddenly emerged as the likely platform set for the 2027 elections