BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Director-General of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organization, Doyin Okupe, has said that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, cannot be the running mate to Rabiu Kwankwanso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
He said it was for that reason that the planned alliance between the two parties didn’t succeed.
Speaking on a radio programme monitored by our correspondent, Okupe said in the next three months, Obi would gain more grounds in the North ahead of the general elections.
“We never planned a merger with NNPP; we only discussed alliance with it. By this, we were thinking one of the flag-bearers will be president and vice president. The Kwankwanso group insists that Rabiu Kwankwanso must be president and we didn’t accept that and that’s why the alliance is in abeyance. Peter Obi is the best presidential candidate Nigeria has ever had.
“Only Peter Obi gives Nigerians hope. Our penetration in the North is very far from what we are expecting but we have talked to our brothers in the North. I believe that in the next three months, we will be singing a new song about North. We are not bothered about that,” Okupe added.
He said the Labour Party vice presidential candidate will come from the North and would be announced this week. He explained the qualities that Obi’s running mate must possess adding that such a person must be educated, youthful, not archaic and must be committed to nation-building.
“We are not just looking for anybody as vice presidential Candidate to Mr Peter Obi. The person should be among those who have gone to school, acquired knowledge and committed to nation-building. He should be among those who are not archaic. We are going through the list we have and I want to assure Nigerians that they should expect LP vice presidential candidate this week. The person is going to come from the North,” Okupe said.
On why Obi has been gaining traction and support among youths, he said, “Obi’s is coming with the right message, his personality, his character, his track records are exactly what the Nigerian people are looking for. The country has reached the height of disappointment and inadequacies and people are fed up. Obi’s entrance is to give hope to Nigerians, especially the young ones, so, they are joining the revolution under the platform of being OBIdient.
“It’s a good sign because it’s about time we got somebody who can actually fix this country once and for all. The Labour Party has its presence in all the nooks and crannies of this country. The Nigerian Labour Congress, the TUC, the market women, the students, the professional bodies are all members of the Labour Party. Our job is just to reawaken what is on ground. And when you add this to the support of the young people, then you know we are actually heading somewhere big,” he stressed.
