LABOUR Party’s leadership has stated that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will not be persuaded to work with President Bola Tinubu’s government of national unity.
The party’s viewpoint was stated in two separate interviews with Obiora Ifoh, LP’s National Publicity Secretary, and Kehinde Edun, LP’s National Legal Adviser.
The party’s stance comes six days after the former Anambra State governor criticized the president on Arise TV’s ‘Morning Show’ in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding his academic records at Chicago State University.
Obi argued that any leader who lies about his credentials or age cannot be trusted to do the right thing and is therefore unfit to lead the people.
He said, “We are at the point where we are challenging the process and that has to come to a logical end before any other thing. These are parts of what makes a nation. The processes through which people assume office are far more than what they do thereafter. It is important that people come in through the right door and not just jump in through the window and keep saying ‘Let’s move on.’
“The issue of qualification is the issue of leaders making statements and doing things that are honest and truthful. This is an issue of honour and integrity.
“If you look at what is happening in Nigeria today, there are so many issues of certificates, age, and all sorts of one falsification or the other with the leaders. There is no way people can do this and be able to do the right thing. That means they are living a falsified life.”
A few days after Obi’s remark, his party also cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, not to pull the LP candidate into the president’s feud.
The party was responding to Atiku’s earlier demand for Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso to join his crusade to expose the president’s alleged dirty secrets.
Some interpreted LP’s reaction as an indication that Obi would choose to cooperate with Tinubu rather than his erstwhile PDP ally, Atiku.
However, LP’s national legal adviser insists that such a fantasy could never become a reality, adding that Obi has already stated his position.
He said, “I think Obi has something he is pursuing, especially when we are sure we won the election. So it will be out of place for us to now say we want to work with this government. As far as LP is concerned, we are waiting for the Supreme Court to set aside the decision of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal that will pronounce Obi as the winner. That’s what we are waiting for.
“This is why we cannot be talking about Obi, somebody who is the owner of the mandate, working with somebody who is a pretender to the office. Until we see to the end of this case at the Supreme Court, it is not over.”
Sharing the same sentiment, the party’s spokesman also insisted that the LP candidate can’t be distracted by such a notion as he is presently focused on reclaiming his ‘stolen mandate’ from the apex court.
“We are still in the process of reclaiming our stolen mandate through our appeal at the Supreme Court. There is no way our candidate can be seen working for this government. For now, he is focused on the appeal at the apex,” he said.
