Retired Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma has publicly advised the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to resist any attempt to lure him back to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Warning against falling for such moves under any pretext, Gen Ijioma cautioned Obi against placing trust in a party that idolises the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, whose allegiance to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), he claimed, is unquestionable.
The retired general, who spoke on the topic, “Ndigbo and the 2027 Politics, during the July edition of the Ikengaonline town hall meeting, said Obi’s political interests would not be safeguarded within the current structure of the opposition PDP.
Gen. Ijioma described the subtle overtures for Peter Obi to return to the PDP as suspicious and potentially a booby trap designed to corner him and derail his presidential ambition.
He also advised Obi to tread carefully in his alliance with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warning that if there is no clear path to securing the party’s presidential ticket, it would be wiser for him to disengage from the coalition.
READ MORE
Gen. Ijioma asserted that Peter Obi remains, arguably, the presidential aspirant with the broadest national appeal in Nigeria today, maintaining that he stands a strong chance of winning the presidency regardless of his political platform.
He noted that with growing public frustration over hunger and economic hardship under the APC-led administration, the masses are willing to support Obi wherever he chooses to pitch his political tent.
“If I’m Peter Obi’s adviser, I will never advise him to go back to the PDP. With what is happening, the PDP is a carcass, and I believe that it is only vultures that feast on a carcass. Returning to PDP with Wike hanging on there is risky. There’s no guarantee that his interest will not be undermined.
“Another important thing I want to say is this, and Peter Obi should hear this: He should be very careful with the coalition. If he is not sure of getting the presidential ticket of the coalition ADC, he should leave them and join any other party where he will emerge as the presidential candidate.
“The masses of Nigeria who understand how important Peter Obi is will rally round him in whichever party he decides to go. He will win in 2027.
“Any party Peter Obi joins today, that party will become the rallying point for the Nigerian masses who are at the receiving end of the bad governance by the APC for the last 10 years. Nigerians have come to accept Peter Obi as a politician of integrity who is really out there to redress issues.
“The rest of the Nigerian masses, not the political elite, have come to accept Peter Obi as one who has the requisite qualifications to lead Nigeria in 2027. I say this because I know that this present government, the APC government that started in 2015, has really plunged Nigeria into the abyss.
“The Nigerian people who are feeling the bite of the abysmal performance of the APC administration are yearning and calling for Peter Obi. I want to refer us to what the former President, Gen. Obasanjo, said.
He advised Nigerians to give Igbos a chance. Nigeria has been governed by Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba Presidents, even a minority President, but they have not had a truly Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.
“I urge Nigerians to rally around Peter Obi because Peter Obi has what it takes to take Nigeria out of the woods. It is only the Nigerian political elites and the Igbo political elites that are fighting against Peter Obi because of their own selfish interests.
“I want Ndigbo as a group of people, both at home and in the diaspora, to continue to rally around Peter Obi because I do not see any better candidate from all parts of Nigeria other than Peter Obi.”
