Tony Okafor, Awka
A South-East based legal practitioner, Okoli Akirika, has said the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, will influence not less than 80% of the voting patterns of Nigerians.
Akirika, who was at various times, the Anambra State secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance( APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it would be a big risk for the status quo to under rate Obi and his movement in the race.
Speaking with our correpondent in Awka, the Anambra State on Thursday, Akirika said most state governors were tacitly supporting the the Peter Obi movement but for fear of being accused of anti party activities they were for now working underground.
He said,” In 2023, the votes and voice of the people will influence 80 to 90 percent pattern of voting. People keep saying that Peter Obi has no structures or he’s the president of social media. But that’s not the truth. For the first time in the Nigerian history, Nigerians are coming out on their own to undertake projects for the interest of a particular candidate, without the prompting of that candidate. The youths marched in Calabar, PH, in Benin, Lagos, in Adamawa, Kaduna etc.
“So, no matter the geopolitical zone or religious inclinations, there appears to be a consensus among Nigerians that we want a shift in the political architecture of the country and I foresee a situation where that will be reflected in 2023 elections, and it’s already reflecting.
“If you go by the various party primaries, you’ll notice that it was the APC governors that orchestrated the emergence of Tinubu, they insisted that power would shift to the South.
So if you put all permutation, it’s very obvious that we’re going to witness a radical departure in the pattern of voting.
Reminded that Anambra, the hometown of the LP presidential candidate, does not seem to be championing the Obi cause, especially APGA who recently warned its members not to be OBIdient, Akirika said, “The APGA chairman had to give the warning because it’s becoming obvious that his members are becoming OBIdient. So he’s now frightened. He’s only being partisan and protecting his political post as the chairman.
” I want to bet you that if he’s subjected to public scrutiny, you’ll find out that the state chairman of APGA will vote for Peter Obi. It’s not necessarily because Peter Obi is from Anambra State or one time governor, but because of the fact that Peter Obi is the sum total of good governance.
The lawyer added, “The APGA chairman is not the first. Kogi state governor, Bello, had to caution the civil servants not to show open partisanship. Why did he say that? It’s dawned on him that even his own civil servants are clamouring for a change. So what APGA chairman said is not new to us. Various state governors had been issuing threats to civil servants, party members and prospective voters.
“Did you not hear Edo Governor the other day that he had those who are clamouring for the OBIdient movement. That APGA chairman said that doesn’t mean the average party member is not appreciative of good governance. There’s no way you expect the governors of Kogi, Edo, Kaduna States to abandon their parties in view of the partisan nature of Nigerian politics.
“They can do that publicly, but inwardly, they all know that there’s every need for us to vote for a person that will ocasion economic progress, political stability and accountability, reduction in cost of governance. They all know that Peter Obi is the very best in managing resources.”
