EKO HOT BLOG reports that fresh facts have emerged on the decision of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to support the 2023 presidential ambition of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi.
Obasanjo sparked mixed reactions on the political scene after his decision to publicly endorse Obi for the 2023 presidential election.
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Obasanjo in his 2023 new year message to Nigerians had openly endorsed Obi and called on the youths in particular to give him their support.
The former Nigerian leader described Peter Obi as “a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost”.
While the Labour Party had embraced the endorsement, other parties including the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have downplayed the endorsement.
However, amidst the reactions, an aide to the former President has shed more light on Obasanjo’s decision to back Obi’s ambition.
The unnamed aide who was quoted by Daily Post said Obasanjo believes in power rotation and agrees with the fact that power should return to the south in 2023.
He added that if the south does not return to power in 2023, it will be getting increasingly more difficult to take power from the north and if the generations of Obasanjo pass on in the next few years, getting influential people to stand for the region will also become more difficult.
The aide spoke further, saying Obasanjo is worried because if the South doesn’t assume the nation’s topmost seat on May 29, agitation for the breakup may resume on a full-blown scale.
On why his principal is working for Obi when Bola Tinubu of the APC is also a southerner and in the 2023 presidential race, the aide replied that it is Obasanjo’s choice based on principles he believes in.
He said: “Baba supported the President in 2015 because the country needed strong leadership. When he saw that his choice did not live up to expectations, he withdrew support before 2019 when he openly backed Atiku.
“He was the most formidable at that time and the North still had eight years to complete. Buhari won that election and will complete his tenure soon. How will Baba support another Northerner again after 2015 and 2019?
“Look, if Obasanjo’s generation leaves in about 10 years from now, Nigerians will understand better. It will be difficult to take it (power from the North). They have the majority in terms of number of votes and they know the game.
“It is because people like Obasanjo are alive that the struggle for Southern presidency is this competitive. When they go, who are the influential people that will speak for the South?
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“Obasanjo is insisting on a Southerner because a Northerner as President beyond 2023 means a possible 16 years in power.”
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