BY BRIGHT JACOB
With hostilities already brewing and political grandstanding by major opposition political figures going ahead at full throttle on the general elections in 2027, knocks and commendations have continued to trail the style of opposition politics by former Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi.
The former Governor of Anambra State who had his baptism of fire as a presidential candidate in the February 25 election came third behind the eventual winner, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, and Atiku Abubakar who flew the People’s Democratic Party’s flag.
The losing candidates, Atiku and Obi, challenged the outcome of the polls at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
After weeks of legal fireworks which captivated Nigerians and at the same time made them feel a surge of anxiety, the tribunal affirmed Tinubu’s victory.
Disgruntled, the two political juggernauts took their appeals to the Supreme Court. But because the judgment of the Tribunal hung like a sword of damocles over their heads, the apex court reaffirmed Tinubu’s victory, thereby re-setting Atiku and Obi to “opposition mode”.
Thus, it was after that verdict that Atiku made the first big announcement in his opposition gameplay.
He called on other political parties to come together with the PDP to form a merger.
In Atiku’s assessment, it would be impossible to beat the APC if the various opposition political parties wanted to go solo in 2027.
Unexpectedly, some of the opposition political parties were shy about Atiku’s proposal while others simply played hard to get, and it seemed the proposal had fallen through one month after the Waziri Adamawa sent out the SOS to the other political parties for them to form a merger to keep Nigeria from becoming a one-party state.
Incidentally, in a move that could be likened to a political tsunami and which many political analysts did not see coming, Atiku, last week, finally assembled Rabiu Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria People’s Party and five other parties in a movement christened the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties.
The other five political parties are the African Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Peoples Allied Movement, Young Progressives Party and Zenith Labour Party, but conspicuously missing from the coalition is the Labour Party.
However, a member representing the Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of the NNPP, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has denied merger talks with opposition parties led by the PDP.
Jibrin in a statement he signed on behalf of NNPP House Caucus described the merger news as a blatant lie.
According to him, while the NNPP is open to “collaboration, alliance and even merger” with any party, no talks of such are presently ongoing.
The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a widely circulated message in some sections of the media that our great party, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) is currently in talks with the PDP and other political parties for possible coalition.
“There is no element of truth in this. It’s a blatant lie. Our party has consistently maintained a neutral stand that we are open to collaboration, alliance and even merger with the APC, PDP, LP and any other political party.
“However, there is presently no talk whatsoever that is ongoing and the party did not attend any meeting to discuss coalition or merger with the PDP or any other party. It is an act of mischief makers and should be regarded as such.”
Indeed, the Labour Party and Obi chose, at least for the time being, to exclude themselves from the coalition and many commentaries on the matter have pointed at the frosty relationship between Atiku, who ran for president in 2019, and his former running mate, Obi.
Besides the aforementioned conundrum, there is also palpable fear that the LP and Obi may not want to displease members of the Obidients, Obi’s diehard supporters, whose majority abhor the PDP and want Obi not to have anything to do with the umbrella party.
So far, in the eyes of Obidients, their front man has been doing yeoman’s work in cutting Tinubu’s government down to size.
For instance, Obi has continued to lampoon the government for mismanaging the economy.
According to him, this is responsible for Nigeria’s growing inflation rate and hardship currently experienced by Nigerians.
Obi posited that at the root of some multinational companies like GlaxoSmithKline boycotting the Nigerian market and even closing shop in the country was the mismanagement of the economy.
He had also tackled the government about the number of registered delegates to the United Nations Conferences on Climate Change, COP28.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Obi sarcastically congratulated Nigeria for having 1,114 government-sponsored delegates to the United Arab Emirates, COP28’s host country, and which equalled, according to him, that of “great China”.
The two-term Governor of Anambra State also criticised the Lagos State Government for ignoring the plight of some residents of the state whose structures, built along canals, were demolished, stressing that the action will further bring hardship on the owners who bear the brunt of Government’s mismanagement of the economy.
“I think Obi is giving opposition politics a whole new meaning and he is doing it with utmost concern for the people and if he continues like this, he will win the hearts of more Nigerians”
However, one of Obi’s former allies and friend, Reno Omokri, had refuted the claims made, saying that GSK did not only leave Nigeria, but had previously left India and Kenya, both thriving economies.
Omokri who also said Standard and Poor rated Nigeria’s economy a high stable B rating at about the same time GSK bid Nigeria farewell said, “These pullouts are part of GlaxoSmithKline’s global strategy.
“They had nothing to do with the management of Nigeria’s economy.
“The global supply chain crisis, coupled with the antics of unpatriotic Nigerians who import fake and substandard products, has made it more profitable for them to manufacture in England and export to Nigeria, India and Kenya.”
On Nigeria’s delegates to COP28, which the Federal Government clarified only 422 delegates were bankrolled by it, Omokri said Obi showed “below average intelligence” by believing lies about Nigeria’s COP28 delegation from some “dishonest” media houses.
On the demolition exercise carried out in Lagos State, the former presidential aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan called out Obi’s “hypocrisy”.
He noted that Obi himself physically led a demolition exercise against illegal structures while he was Governor of Anambra State and had told all offenders that they would not be compensated.
“This is the same man now criticising the Lagos State Government for demolishing illegal structures blocking canals, waterways and drains, thereby causing perennial floods,” Omokri said.
A political analyst, Ndidi Okwara, however countered Omokri.
Okwara said Obi was giving opposition politics a whole new meaning and that if he persevered, Obi would win the hearts of more Nigerians.
“Don’t mind what these frustrated people are saying about Obi. They know that the man is a potential danger to the government of the APC in 2027.
“I think Obi is giving opposition politics a whole new meaning and he is doing it with utmost concern for the people and if he continues like this, he will win the hearts of more Nigerians,” Okwara said.
Whether Obi got some of his facts correct before he criticized the government, Okwara said, “Fact or no fact, the truth is that certain things were going wrong and unacceptable.
“These were the things Obi tried to bring to the consciousness of Nigerians and those who have genuine concern for this country will understand this.”
