₦airaland Forum

• Peter Obi scored 72% among those who have decided to vote.
• Main party candidates much less favored in Premise Data poll.

By William Clowes

A Surprise Presidential Candidate Leads the Race to Lead Nigeria, Poll Shows

A third-party candidate is the top choice to become the next president of Africa’s most populous country, according to a new opinion poll.

A clear majority of respondents said they intend to vote for Peter Obi, a former state governor, in elections scheduled for February.

The results of the survey conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp. were published on Wednesday as the official campaign to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari kicked off.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, says the government is behind oil theft in the country.

Obi, who is the guest speaker at the Private Sector Economic Forum of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), asserted that no one can steal oil except the government.

“Subsidy is organised crime,” he said while addressing the audience at the event on Monday in Lagos. “We need an aggressive production of local refining.”

“Make resources available to ensure a private-sector led oil refining,” the former Anambra State governor advised the Federal Government.

The presidential candidate who made the remarks while answering questions from panellists at the event also reacted to a question on the issue of cost of governance.

“I have allergies to waste,” declared Obi who obviously took a swipe at the government again.

He insisted that there was a need for an overhaul of the security architecture in the country, proposing multi-level policing from the federal to the community security system.

Oil theft, debt burden, subsidy regime, foreign exchange, and other economic issues were core areas the forum expected each of the candidates to address ahead of the 2023 elections.

The LCCI, which has organised the event for the past 16 years, said it was interested in the economic agenda of each of the candidates aspiring to take over the leadership mantle at the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor, on Monday, declared support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, over his PDP counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.

“I’m a member of the PDP and glad to be a member of the PDP but I am one that is very ‘Obidient’,” Ifaluyi-Isibor said on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.

Ifaluyi-Isibor, the Director of Mobilisation, Nigeria Diaspora Youth Coalition For Peter Obi, said he is not blinded by party loyalty, adding that he does not need to belong to the Labour Party to support its presidential candidate.

The former member of the House of Representatives from Edo Central said Nigerians are tired and frustrated and cannot continue the way things are, saying the All Progressives Congress and government at the centre took the people for granted.

Ifaluyi-Isibor noted that Peter Obi is the “poster boy for the revolution” for a new order.

‘Obidient’ is a sobriquet coined and adopted by followers of Obi to show their support for the 2023 presidential ambition of the 61-year-old.

Asked whether his action translates to anti-party or not, the Edo-based politician said, “My loyalty is first to my conscience, then to my nation, then to any other engagement which includes the political party.

“Being a member of the PDP, I am participating in all the electoral processes and I was more or less the spokesperson of the PDP in 2015 when we had that election.

“So, I have been a major player in the PDP but the development of Nigeria, the salvation that Nigeria needs is not vested in a political party any longer. You have people who are members of the PDP, members of the APC, and members of all kinds of political parties who support Mr Peter Obi because it transcends the political parties; we are trying to save our lives and not to save the political parties.”

The PDP member said those who say Obi’s support base only exists on social media are afraid.

He said though he backed former Vice-President Atiku in the 2019 presidential election, he switched to support Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, for the 2023 presidency because of his track records.

“We cannot continuously pretend that all is well and because I am a member of the PDP, then whoever the PDP candidate is, then you must support. That is not how democracy plays out in other developed economies. There are members of the Democrat Party who support Republican candidates and vice-versa. So, it is about the capacity, the competence and the capability of the individuals,” Ifaluyi-Isibor stated.

Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in the last presidential poll, was a PDP presidential aspirant till May 2022 when he dumped the PDP for the Labour Party and subsequently emerged presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission said campaigns will officially begin on September 28, 2022. Aside from Atiku and Obi, also in the quest for Aso Rock in the February 2023 presidential election, which analysts have described as a three-horse race, is a former Lagos State governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.

rayvelez:
This man always on the news had it been nah PETER OBI, Reno and agabados and cassavas won’t let us rest...

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has said that what the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, wants is justice.

Sowore said the “torture” being meted out to Kanu was the reason why Nigeria as a country “was not progressing nor peaceful” under the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Sowore stated this in a statement after attending the hearing of Kanu’s case at the Appeal Court in Abuja.

The PUNCH reported that the Appeal Court reserved its judgement on Kanu after his lawyer, Ozekhome, who led the delegation of legal practitioners representing the IPOB leader, urged the court to strike out the remaining charges for a lack of credibility. The court adjourned the matter indefinitely.

“Today, I attended the continued trial of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, at the Court of Appeal in Abuja. I met his lawyers, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Aloy Ejimakor and Ifeanyi Ejiofor, and many others as they concluded arguments asking the appellate judges to quash the remaining charges against Kanu.

“The unjust incarceration, torture, and extraordinary rendition involved in his trial is clearly a reason Nigeria under the Buhari regime may never achieve peace, progress, and prosperity.

“I’ve met Mazi Kanu in person and I understand him well enough to state that what he wants is justice,” Sowore said.

Human rights lawyer and principal of Festus Ogun Legal, Festus Ogun, has noted that donations by Nigerians in the diaspora for the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, do not violate any law in Nigeria.

This was in reaction to a call by some groups for the Independent National Electoral Commission to disqualify Obi from the 2023 presidential race for allegedly seeking funds abroad, contrary to the Electoral Act.

But in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday, Ogun stated that the donations made by support groups for any candidate’s campaign did not violate the Electoral laws or any other law in Nigeria.

The statement titled, ‘Diaspora Donation to Peter Obi Campaign Violates No Law In Nigeria (1)’ read, “Following the pledge of a Diaspora Support Group to crowdfund $150m for Peter Obi’s campaign, concerns are raised in some quarters over the legality and constitutionality of diaspora donations made in respect of Mr. Peter Obi’s Campaign.

“In fact, some groups reportedly called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ‘without delay’, disqualify Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, from the 2023 Presidential race.

“To be clear, donations made by concerned citizens and support groups (either in Nigeria or in the diaspora) to Peter Obi and his Campaign Team are not in violation of any living law in Nigeria.

“Those who hold otherwise rely largely on Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) and Section 85 of the Electoral Act, 2022. With greatest respect, these provisions of law are generally inapplicable to this instant case, and those who rely on them to demand from INEC the disqualification of Mr. Peter Obi, which is itself laughable, are either mischievous or misconceived.

“Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) provides that: ‘No political party shall hold or possess any funds or other assets outside Nigeria; or b. be entitled to retain any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria’.”

“A careful consideration of the sections of law reproduced above shows that the 1999 Constitution simply prohibits a POLITICAL PARTY from holding or possessing any funds or other assets outside Nigeria and from retaining any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria. The Electoral Act, by virtue of Section 85, only complements the constitutional provision by prescribing punishment for its breach.” Ogun further explained.

He added, “Having cleared that, it is safe to say that donations made to Mr. Peter Obi or his Campaign Organization in furtherance of his Presidential Campaign cannot be said to be made to a Political Party as envisaged under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution. Neither Mr. Peter Obi nor his campaign Organisation is a ‘political party’ and must not be mistaken or confused for Labour Party, a duly registered political party under the law. It would have been a different ball game entirely if the donations were made to Labour Party as a political party.

“Donations made to political candidates or their campaign teams are not caught under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 85 of the Electoral Act and are therefore not illegal and unconstitutional"

ShowYourCertificate:
https://punchng.com/youths-anointed-obi-to-end-corruption-senator/

An Anambra State senator, Annie Okonkwo, has stated that Nigerian youths have anointed the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, to break the yoke of corruption in the country.

Okonkwo stated this on Tuesday night when he chaired the reception for Obi in Los Angeles, California, United States.

This was contained in a statement by Okonkwo’s media adviser, Collins Steve Ugwu, made available to The PUNCH on Saturday.

Making his remarks at the Beverly Hilton venue, attended by global diasporans, Okonkwo noted that God and man have chosen Obi to take back Nigeria.

“To take back Nigeria to work for Nigerians is a task which time has come, and the reason every guest is here to hear Peter, whom God and man has found fit and ready to do the tough job,” Okonkwo said.

He added, “I state with responsibility and civic experience, that given the fever of excitement to this unique team, never seen in our recent campaign history, our energetic youths have ‘anointed’ Peter to break the yoke of corruption and senile leadership in Nigeria, and that shall be done deservedly.

“Leadership afflictions and corruption insanity are pulling people together around the ‘mantle of fidelity in governance’ that Obi has raised and preserved. That is a great cause to proudly support.

“But I must caution that there are works to be done and keep doing, to assure the guaranteed outcome is accomplished.”

Okonkwo, who represented the Anambra South constituency from 2007 to 2011 noted that he can testify of Obi’s capacity to govern the country.

He said, “I was a Senator in a different party; same time in Anambra state when Obi was governor, and I can confirm that the state is, unarguably, the toughest state to govern in Nigeria.

“Yet Obi raised the bar of governance there exceptionally, by making integrity, character and prudence his unshaken performance parameter.

“The results became so visibly commonplace that nobody was clapping, because he had no ‘shishi’ for celebrations. That is the state with the highest concentration of billionaires in Nigeria, with very lean tolerance for attitudes in the gallery.

“He was instead labelled and sneered at, kicked and knocked viciously, but the Rock (Okute) kept focus.

“Today, Nigerians have recognised him as the thermometer for accountable governance.

“He has remained the same and constant, only better and still improving. Nigeria is bigger than Anambra, but the challenges are not bigger than his experience. That is why they want him and that is why they will have him.”

While the former governor of Anambra State is enjoying an upswing in popularity among young voters in Southern Nigeria, his acceptance in the conservative northern region has been slow.

Jamilu Abubakar, like many young enthusiasts of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was determined to prove a point.

That was after weeks of enduring jeers from supporters of rival political parties that Obidients – as supporters Mr Obi call themselves – practically reside on social media and have no “structure” to garner the votes the Labour Party candidate requires to be competitive in the election.

“We know how important it is to go beyond social media, though it (social media) is also good,” Mr Abubakar, who is the coordinator of the pro-Obi group, the Northern Coalition for Peter Obi, told PREMIUM TIMES.

“We decided to meet and chart out ways to take the campaign to the people that matter during the election and I as the coordinator of the coalition, I’m convinced that we’re making a statement,” he added.

Mr Abubakar and members of his coalition have taken on a difficult task.

Until a few months ago, many voters in Nigeria’s northern region may have a problem recognising any party outside the two main political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Even the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), which is enjoying an upsurge of support in the region due its charismatic leader and a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was slow in becoming a household name.

But in May 2022, Mr Obi defected to the Labour Party after complaining of being shabbily treated by the leadership of the PDP.

Since his defection, Mr Obi has seen his popularity balloon in the south of the country. But Mr Obi needs more than an upswing in a section of country if he hopes to become Nigeria’s next president.

To win the Nigerian presidency, the country’s constitution stipulates that a candidate must win at least 25 per cent of the votes in at least two-third of Nigeria’s 36 states.

While Mr Obi growing political credit in the south of the country continues to grow, his acceptance among the largely conservative electorate in the 19 states in the north has been largely tempered.

Northern foot soldiers
Mr Abubakar and other pro-Obi volunteer group in the north are confident they can change that.

Mr Abubakar, who is based in Zamfara State, said his coalition members across northern Nigeria 1are relentlessly selling Mr Obi to voters.

He said his coalition has held several campaign events in Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi states. He said the efforts of his group is being complemented by other pro-groups like Equip Naija for Peter Obi, which is active in the country’s central states.

He said he realised the impact of the Obidient movement in the north from the overwhelmingly positive feedback he got from listeners when he was a guest of a radio show on Freedom Radio in Kano.

“It was all because of the persistent campaigns,” he said.

Sani Baba, a member of the Equip Naija for Peter Obi said his group’s campaign is funded from donations from members.

“The only reason I’m voting for Peter Obi is l want to see his style of leadership because we’ve tried APC and PDP but they all failed. For us Northerners, what has our fellow brother done for us?” Mr Bala asked during a telephone interview.

In Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, the APC is firmly in control.

But thanks to the tenacity of young Obidient foot soldiers, the Labour Party now has a governorship candidate and has entered candidates for other elective offices in the state.

“We’ve gone beyond social media and we’re only waiting for campaign to officially take off to show how effective we’ve been,” he said.

Mr Jay said he is not encumbered by the presumed political animosity between Igbos and people of Hausa-Fulani origin.

Mr Obi is ethnically Igbo. Inhabitants of Katsina are predominantly of Hausa and Fulani origin.

“As a northerner from Katsina State, I’m voting for Peter Obi because of not one, but two reasons which are all very personal to me. First, because he’s credible and competent. Second, because I want this election to change the narrative that Northerners don’t have an independent mindset,” he said.

Labour Party is also gaining ground in states across the North-east and North-central regions.

On 6 August, the Obidient movement in Nasarawa State organised a One-million-man march to drum support for Mr Obi in Lafia, the state capital. Although those who showed up for the march were far from the one million people the organiser boasted would attend, the procession was still relatively well-attended.

The state coordinator of Grassroot Movement for Peter Obi, Sardauna Alhasan, told PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone interview that he was confident the Labour Party candidate will win the presidential election in the state.

The pharmacist, who now spends the bulk of his time canvassing votes for Mr Obi, said his group was not fazed by the fact that the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, is from the state.

“APC and PDP know they can’t win Nasarawa State for their presidential candidates. Write it down because with the support we’re getting, Peter Obi will win in Nasarawa State,” he said.

“Our candidate is young at heart and had performed wonderfully as governor of Anambra State. So, we believe he can reflect that nationally,” he said.

Mr Alhasan said the one-million-man march was organised to show the country that Mr Obi’s popularity transcended social media.

In Benue, the member of the House of Representatives for Vandeikya/Konshisha Federal Constituency, Herman Hembe, is Labour Party’s leading evangelist.

Mr Hembe is the party’s gubernatorial candidate. Another prominent politician in the party is the Minority Whip of the Benue House of Assembly, Cephas Dyako. Mr Cephas is seeking to be re-elected into the state assembly next year.

Labour Party contestants
While the focus of the Obidient groups in the north is primarily to sell the candidacy of Mr Obi, his party, the Labour Party, has also benefited from his relative upswing in the region.

Unlike previous elections, the Labour Party has governorship candidates in the seven states of the North-west region.

In Katsina for instance, Mr Musawa said the party has entered candidates for the 34 House of Assembly seats, 17 House of Representatives seats and three Senators.

In Kaduna State, the party has candidates for all elective positions while in Zamfara State, the party has candidates for two senatorial seats and four House of Representatives positions.

In Kano and Jigawa states, the Labour Party has candidates in all elective positions.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the party fielded candidates in all elective positions in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa and Plateau states

In Adamawa, the home state of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, the defection of Mustapha Umar-Madawaki (popularly known as Otumba) from the APC to the LP has helped boost the confidence of the Obidient Movement in the state.

Abubakar Santuraki , a top pro-Obi supporter in Adamawa said Mr Umar-Madawaki, who is the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in the state, joined the party with more than 20,000 supporters.

The Fintiri Ambassadors, a group of young, disgruntled supporters of the incumbent governor of the state, Umaru Fintiri, defected to the Labour Party and are now avowed supporters of Mr Obi.

In a statement the group said over 23,000 supporters joined the LP from the Peoples Democratic Party.

“The governorship flag bearer of the party, Otumba, is the most qualified to be the next governor of Adamawa state in 2023,” the statement read.

“We decided to join the Labour Party because of its candidate, he is an intellectual that Adamawa will be glad to have. He is knowledge-based and vast in leadership skills that can liberate our state. We’ve lost confidence in the Fintiri administration. God knows we diligently supported him and he promised us heaven and earth when we formed the government, but nothing good has happened,” the statement by the group’s spokesman, Bello Yarima, said.

The story is not different in Bauchi State according to Musa Abel, coordinator of the Coalition for Obi – Datti Support Groups.

He said the party fielded candidates for “governor, three Senators, 11 out of 12 House of Representatives and in most of the 31 House of Assembly seats in Bauchi State.”

Mr Abel said all the Obideint groups in the state are pursuing a common cause of changing the current crop of leaders in the state.

“We’ve for now carried out a number of activities to sensitise the people on the need to stand and vote for the right candidates. We’re making them know that their votes count because we know that leadership is our problem in this country,” he said.

Speaking on how Mr Obi would be accepted in Nigeria’s north, Mr Abel said: “It’s simple. Obi is generally acceptable because of the situation we’ve found ourselves in. The north is not insulated from the insecurity that is going on. The North is not insulated from poverty. The north is not protected from economic hardship. We know that leadership in Nigeria is not the place you’re from.

“Everybody wants this country to be better. Obi’s popularity is now beyond social media because people are yearning for change and this has even made our work as support groups easier,” Mr Abel added.

He said in Bauchi State alone, there are 23 support groups with structures at the ward, local government and state levels.

Campaign strategies
A Labour Party House of Assembly contestant in Katsina state, Umar Saulawa, said Mr Obi supporters in the state came up with a different strategy of campaigning for Mr Obi, which was different from the traditional style of political campaign in the north.

You know the style of campaign in the North must be different from the South. In Katsina, we sat and discussed the strategies and one of the decisions was to adopt the title of Obi Nakowa Ne, an Hausa phrase which means “Obi is for everyone” which helped and would continue to help us reach out to the local communities,” Mr Saulawa said.

He said the Pro-Obi groups in the state also made sure their campaign was issue-based. He said chief about the issues they put forward were solution to the insecurity and widespread economic hardship in the region.

Also, as part of the strategies to reach out to the public to sell the Obi’s candidate, Tanko Yunusa, a former Vice Presidential candidate and National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, said Labour Party was doing a sensitisation tour of the 19 Northern states.

He said the rallies have been successful in Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states.

“Those who are saying that we don’t have structure will be shocked because our supporters are not hired crowds. Other parties when they hold rallies rent a crowd but people are spending their money to come and meet us. What does it show you?,” he said.

Mr Abubakar said Obidients are not just on social media to banter with supporters of rival parties. He said social media has been useful in winning more people into their ranks.

“Aside from our style, we bring to the fore the many issues bedeviling the country on social media and when issues are discussed, people will now understand how poor the government has been so far,” he said.

“I was in APC and I knew that we recorded huge success in 2015 through the social media. We’ve been using that to sell our candidate and it has been rewarding.”

Welcome development – Analysts
Meanwhile, a Kano-based political analyst, Muhsin Ibrahim, said Twitter has been instrumental in helping to spread the message to young voters in the north.

“Frankly, none of the duo Messrs Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso of NNPP) will likely win the 2023 presidential election. Nevertheless, for a politician, popularity means a lot. Thus, on the one hand, I consider PO’s (Mr Obi) fame a win in its own right. Although elections don’t hold on social media, Peter Obi’s thrilling popularity on these platforms, especially Twitter, is fantastic,” the university lecturer said.

“It’s a welcome development,” a political analyst in Katsina, Saifullahi Kuraye, told PREMIUM TIMES. “It says a lot about the good efforts put in by the young guys selling him. First, this shows that the Northerners are becoming politically active and matured to see young guys in their numbers campaigning for an Igbo candidate when there are two other Northerners in the race.

“It also shows that the issue of ethnicity and religion would not be that strong in the 2023 elections. I know some people will still be doubting Mr Obi being an Igbo Christian but this is a welcome development and he will get votes in the North unlike in the past elections where Southerners were completely shunned by Northerner voters,” Mr Kuraye said.

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Even the US Chamber of Commerce want to tap into Peter Obi's economic wisdom


https://events.uschamber.com/businessroundtablewithpeterobinigeriapresidentialcandidate/2478337

PandoraObi:
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PandoraObi:
Hope it is not igbotimes purveyor of fake news

Business Roundtable with H.E. Peter Obi - Presidential Candidate, Nigeria

Event Description

Members are invited to join the U.S.-Africa Business Center (USAfBC) as we host H.E. Peter Obi, Nigeria's Presidential Candidate, for an off-record in-person roundtable conversation held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters, as he shares his vision and plans for U.S. private sector engagement in Nigeria. Please contact Ellasandra Walsh at ewalsh@uschamber.com with any questions.

Details

Thursday, September 1, 2022
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Headquarters | 1615 H St NW, Washington, D.C. 20062