The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the Anambra Central senatorial district, Senator Uche Ekwunife, has denied ever endorsing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi.
Ekwunife, who described Obi as a force to be reckoned with in the forthcoming general elections, stated that the former Anambra governor did not have the capacity to garner the required spread across the country to make him win the presidential election.
The senator stated these in a statement, signed by herself with her letter-head paper and which was made available to journalists on Sunday.
She was also reacting to an online report which purportedly claimed that she had endorsed Obi in the February poll.
The statement with the caption, ‘My purported endorsement of Peter Obi’, read, “It has come to my notice that an online blog has been circulating articles claiming that I have endorsed the presidential candidate of the LP, Mr Peter Obi, in the forthcoming February poll.
It further attributed statements that may translate as adopting Obi as my candidate for the election.
“I want to state categorically that those statements never emanated from me or my campaign council.
“I also, wish to state that Peter Obi is my leader and an elder brother from Anambra Central whom I respect and hold in high esteem.
“But our political aspiration has become divergent, hence, the need for me to focus on delivering our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, who are of the PDP.
“May I restate that I’m of the PDP and we have candidates in all the elective positions across Nigeria and I cannot at this point, work against my party or any of her candidates for whatever reasons?
“Peter Obi is no doubt, a force to reckon with in the election, but will not be able to garner the required spread that will secure a win, unlike Atiku who has everything it takes to win the election with a high margin.”
She urged the people of Anambra and Nigerians to key into Atiku’s presidential aspiration as a “project to rescue Nigeria and get her on the path of greatness.”
CULLED FROM PUNCH NEWSPAPER & OTHER REPORTS
