A youth group, Omenuko Ndigbo United, has warned Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, against isolating himself from the current push to unite opposition forces ahead of the 2027 polls.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Benjamin Madu, president of the group, said Obi’s reluctance to engage fully in coalition talks raises concerns about a repeat of what happened in the last elections.
“We are not happy with Peter Obi. Instead of joining hands with others to rescue Nigeria, he seems to be focused only on himself. This is not the time for selfish politics,” the statement reads.
Madu accused Obi of allowing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to win the 2023 elections by refusing to collaborate with other opposition leaders.
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He cautioned that such a move could again sabotage the chances of producing a president of Igbo extraction in 2027.
“The current president is from the South. This is the best time for Ndigbo to push for the presidency. But we need unity. If Obi leaves the coalition, it will be harder for an Igbo person to become president in 2027 or even in 2031,” Madu said.
“Obi is not fully part of the plans, and it’s starting to look like he is playing another game. We need to know what he really wants.”
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He also pointed to recent criticisms of Obi by APC supporters like Reno Omokri, which, according to him, were reminiscent of 2023 tactics used to confuse the opposition and voters.
Referencing David Hundeyin, a journalist, Madu said previous warnings about avoiding fragmentation in the opposition should be taken seriously this time around.
He urged the former governor of Anambra to make his position known and stop the “political ambiguity”.
“Nigerians deserve honesty. Peter Obi should stop pretending and tell us where he stands. We will not allow what happened in 2023 to happen again, especially if it will hurt the Igbo cause,” he said.
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On May 22, Obi assured LP’s supporters that he would still contest future elections on the party’s platform.
“I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party,” he said.
“But today, in all the parties, there are problems; these are deliberate problems caused by the system. These are some of the things I want to clean up if I have the opportunity.
“Parties will function very well because you can not have a system working without a strong opposition.”
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