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The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, shared an insight into why his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, dumped the main opposition party during the build-up to the party’s presidential primary election in 2022.
Atiku, who addressed a press conference on the outcome of last Saturday’s presidential election in Abuja, claimed Obi left PDP because he was afraid of the demands of PDP governors.
The PUNCH had on May 27, 2022, reported that Obi, who is a former Anambra State governor, dumped PDP for LP, saying the party (Labour Party) is the right platform that aligns with his aspiration.
According to him, he had chosen a route that he considered to be in line with “our aspirations and my mantra of taking the country from consumption to production.”
But speaking in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku said Obi dumped the party because he was in a “rush”.
He said, “I think Peter 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 (Obi) got scared and left.
“I did not get scared. I stood up against the governors. When we founded the PDP, some of them (governors) 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 have stopped him from becoming a running mate because I had the right to choose whoever I wanted as my running mate.
“So, questions of whether I will work with Peter or whether he wounded (scuttled) PDP chances? Well, he did to some extent because all the votes he polled were PDP votes in South-South and South-East. But whether he will achieve his ambition or not, is left for God to decide.”
The former vice president also admitted that the Labour party candidate slashed PDP votes in both South-East and South-South regions.
“At the time Peter decided to leave the PDP and join Labour Party, we had not, I believed, begun our primary election process, so the question about whether he was going to get the ticket or not did arise.
“Yes, I agree it is a fact that he took our votes from the South-East and South-South but that, of course, would not make him a president. Absolutely, it will not.
“You all know that to be a president in this country, you need a vote from everywhere. But he is welcome to dialogue with the PDP and we are ready to dialogue with him. I don’t think we will have any problem if he wants to dialogue with PDP whether he forms an alliance or not.”
