Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has claimed that former Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Labour Party, LP, because of moves by some politicians in the PDP to make sure power remained in the north.
Wike stated this when he hosted, on a courtesy visit, the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Thursday, March 9, 2023.
The governor said he was a major proponent of a Southern president, insisting that Obi decided to leave the PDP when former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, told him (Obi) that power would continue in the north this year.
He said: “I supported that power must come to the south. When [Peter] Obi came here, I gave him all the logistics, vehicles, and other support and paid for the stadium, but some other persons applied and I refused. You should know me too well by now.
“Obi was running with us. I knew when Obi left. He was principled and he said he couldn’t stand it, people should say the truth.
“He went to see Sule Lamido in Jigawa, not in Dutse, but in a village that will take you more than four or five hours drive from Dutse, the capital.
“You know what he told Obi? He did not tell him that look, you came late and I have chosen somebody. He said it is the north that would produce the next president. That was how Obi left [the PDP] saying why is he wasting time. Ask him. That is how he left PDP.”
‘Deadly Train Crash Avoidable’ – Peter Obi Tells Sanwo-Olu To ‘Stand Up To Responsibilities’
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has condoled with the Lagos State Government over the fatal accident involving one of its staff bus and a train at the PWD axis of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway early on Thursday, March 9, 2023.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in his update said six people died in the accident while those injured are receiving treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
Obi in his condolence message said news of the accident was depressing. He, however, said the accident is avoidable while urging relevant agencies to stand up to responsibilities to avoid a repeat of such fatal accident.
“I received the depressing news of a train collision with a BRT Staff Bus in Ikeja today, where precious lives were lost and several people wounded. We must at all cost, guard against accidents like this. We must at all cost, guard against accidents like this. The many lives lost to such avoidable incidents are heart breaking. The relevant agencies and authorities must stand up to their responsibilities,” Obi’s tweet reads in part.
We must at all cost, guard against accidents like this. The many lives lost to such avoidable incidents are heart breaking. The relevant agencies and authorities must stand up to their responsibilities.
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) March 9, 2023
I commiserate with the bereaved families and hope the critically injured are given good medical care for quick recovery. We are united with you in this time of sorrow and pain. May God keep us all safe as we go about our daily lives. -PO
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) March 9, 2023
12 SANs In Peter Obi’s Legal Team Revealed As Appeal Court Rules On BVAS
The Court of Appeal in Abuja is set to rule on the application filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) it used to conduct the 2023 presidential election, up which held on Saturday, February 27, 2023.
The court has set Wednesday, March 8, 2023, for the eagerly awaited ruling.
The legal team of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, a party in the suit, moved a motion requesting the court not to allow INEC to tamper with the evidence in the matter going to the Presidential Election Tribunal.
According to our findings, Obi’s legal team include at least twelve Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Some of them presented in order of seniority are Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN; Chief Awa Kalu, SAN; Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN; P.I.N. Ikwueto, SAN; Chief Ben Anyachebe, SAN; S.T. Hon, SAN; Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN; Ik Ezechukwu, SAN; J.S. Okutepa, SAN; Dr Mrs Valerie Azinge, SAN; Emeka Okpoko, SAN; and Alex Ejesieme, SAN.
According to an inside source, Obi’s legal team is still being constituted and “these are not all the senior advocates of Nigeria on the team. More are still signing up.”
Obi’s legal team had argued that the data on the BVAS contains the substance of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate’s case against INEC’s unlawful manipulation of the February 25 election’s results and processes.
The team informed the court that its forensic experts had not been granted access to INEC systems to inspect them before the said data transfer, and the said process is not clearly spelt out to all parties concerned.
Obi’s lawyers questioned the motives of INEC to be so hasty to compromise the principal evidence of the election umpire’s fraudulent manipulation of the election results.
In its response, the electoral body argued that it would transfer the data on the BVAS to a backup server. INEC wishes to clean up the BVAS for conducting the governorship and state legislative elections billed for Saturday, March 11, 2023.
The case is being heard by a three-person Court of Appeal panel headed by Justice Joseph Ikyegh.
The future of Nigeria’s democracy has come under scrutiny following the conduct of a flawed presidential election by INEC in which the electoral body declared the unpopular candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner.
The three main opposition parties, Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), have all rejected the election results announced by INEC.
LP and PDP, in an unprecedented move on February 28, 2023, jointly called for the resignation of the INEC chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu and for the cancellation of the exercise, which they described as a “travesty” and “rape of democracy”.
Mr Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra who ran for president with the backing of the youth population, is widely believed to have won the election by a wide margin, beating a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, and the Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos governor with links to drug trafficking.
Source: Daily Post
