TheCable

Representatives of Bola Tinubu, president-elect, say there was no pathway to victory for Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) in the last elections.

The representatives of Tinubu led by Festus Keyamo, spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign, spoke on Wednesday at the National Press Centre in Washington DC, US.

Sunday Dare, minister of youths and sports; and Anjuri Ngelale, a presidential aide; were part of the group.

In a prepared text, Keyamo said only Tinubu met the requirements of the constitution to win the election.

The minister of state for employment said the departure of Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), from the PDP was a major setback for the main opposition party.

“About eight months to the elections, the main opposition, the PDP, suffered some major setbacks. Its Vice-Presidential Candidate in 2019, Mr Peter Obi moved to the Labour Party with his supporters, mainly from his region of origin, the south-east,” Keyamo said.

“Another of the party’s main pillars of support in the north-west, Alhaji Musa Kwakwanso moved to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), taking with him a chunk of the party’s supporters in that region.

“Five out of the 14 governors of the PDP, publicly announced they would not be campaigning for or supporting its presidential candidate (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar).

“Meanwhile, the ruling party remained one huge, indivisible entity with no departure of any of its elected officials or public dissent from them. It was in this state of affairs that all the parties went into the elections.

“The candidate of the PDP scored 25 percent and above in just 21 states, falling short of the 24 states required and the candidate of the Labour Party scored 25 percent and above in 15 states plus the federal capital territory, making it 16 States.

“There was just no pathway to victory for these candidates who did not have the requisite national acceptability.”