Is Peter Obi Igbo’s best political foot forward? (II)

When I posed the above question to a leading political figure from the south east who preferred anonymity, he appeared bristled by the question while answering it. He said ‘’ It is rather uncharitable to refer to Peter Obi as Ndigbo’s political candidate. In the first place there was never a time that Igbo’s met through their representatives and decided that he will be our presidential candidate. That would never happen and if it did, it will be vehemently opposed by many Igbos I am sure of that.Not because he is not liked but because it is not in keeping with Igbo character of individualism ’’ He went on ‘’Secondly, it reduces the political standing of the man to say he is Igbo’s political candidate because from the figures of the last presidential election where he garnered support from all parts of the country, Obi is more of a national political figure than a local ethnic champion. And he has maintained that status and image in his political undertakings’’.

It is not lost on political observers that despite the wide following of Obi in Igbo land and his solid national political credentials, there are discordant tunes about his political trajectory in Igboland. Dave Umahi, the immediate past governor of Ebonyi state and presently Works and Housing Minister under the present President Tinubu administration, reasons that Peter Obi should step down his presidential ambitions in the interest of ‘’southern solidarity’’ so as to enable President Tinubu win a second term. Umahi also declared that he would gather a conclave of Igbo leading personalities to persuade Obi on this score. Some elements in the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, the Ohaneze Ndigbo have also voiced similar lent their support to such an idea pointed calling on Obi not to consider standing in opposition to President Tinubu in the 2027 elections because in their estimation, the president had done well and needed to be allowed to continue.

If there appears to be a lack of consensus on Obi’s political stock in Igboland, how then does the rest of Nigeria reckon with him in the political stakes?

From the results of the last elections there is no question that Obi has established himself as a solid political figure with wide political following across the country.

But again, as in Igboland there are very significant areas of misgivings and opposition to his political trajectory.

In a response to the first part of this article, a reader wrote ‘’I beg to disagree on Buhari/Peter Obi as they were in different professions. Buhari a soldier of no mean repute, no master, no business partner and incorruptible to his grave. Peter Obi is a businessman, banker and trader.’’

Another, obviously a Muslim northerner wrote ‘’We are really worried about his YES DADDY Religious war mentioned in his telephone conversation with his Pastor/Reverend in 2023. I wish he redeems that challenge. We still have not forgotten that Igbos killed selected people like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu Bello and LT. Col John Yakubu Pam etc in the January 1966 coup and left their own. Ken Nnamani would have been a good presidential and acceptable candidate’’.

In the south west where Peter Obi pulled the greatest political upset by defeating incumbent President Tinubu in Lagos at the last elections, there have massive concerted efforts to roll back the gains of Obi. Not only are his and the Labour party structures in disarray, the block of his supporters in the south west seem to be dissolving under the unrelenting counter forces of south west ethnic political pressure.  From indications it is likely that the turn out that Obi garnered in the south west in the last elections might not be repeated in the 2027 elections.

If Obi appears to evoke such deep discordance among people, it must be admitted that he himself has not helped matters in this regard by his current political trajectory. Following the conclusion of the last elections in which he performed creditably well, Obi has not been able to hold his Labour party together against the machinations of the ruling All Progressive Congress Party. A clear case of this is the growing political distance between him and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed his running mate at the last elections. Many supporters of the party preferred that the two of them stuck together to ensure the teeming supporters are provided with a direction into the future. A top Labour party figure who stood for elections as gubernatorial candidate lamented to me that the structures of the party in virtually all the states in the country have been abandoned by the leadership. ‘’He hardly picks calls from political associates and when he does which is rare, he will say ‘’I will call you back’’, but he would not’’ the gubernatorial candidate said.  As a result, many leading figures in the party like actor/lawyer Kenneth Okonkwo seemed to have parted ways with Obi and the party.

As it is Peter Obi does not appear to have a clear direction in his current political trajectory. Although he is still with the Labour Party indications are that he is flirting with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) the new party on the block which has drawn most of the leading opposition figures and is set to challenge the ruling APC in the 2027 elections.

All this is leaving the supporters of Obi in a state of uncertainty.

It is the opinion of many that Obi still has verve and relevance to tip the political scales in the country if he makes right moves based on the current political realities. The call for him to step down from the political race looks like a poisoned chalice. If he withdraws he might just as well be committing political suicide because after eight years of Tinubu’s tenure his chances as a southerner for the 2031 presidency will be very slim if at all because it will be the turn of the North.

Obi’s supporters will prefer he throws his hat into the 2027 political contest robustly and duke it out with the other contestants. In this regard, many believe his chances and options will be enhanced in the political horse trading that will inevitably feature in the contest of 2027. (Concluded)

Gadu can be reached via [email protected] and 08035355706 (Texts only)