POLITICS – Peter Obi is not desperate for power and is not frustrated to the point of wanting to leave Nigeria because he lost an election, according to Akin Osuntokun, the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council.
Osuntokun made these remarks during a recent interview.
Speaking about the 2023 presidential election and the 171-day legal battle to nullify President Bola Tinubu‘s election, Osuntokun, a prominent member of the Labour Party (LP), dismissed the rumors that Obi is considering leaving the country. He emphasized that Obi, the LP presidential candidate, has already achieved everything one could aspire to.
When asked if it was true that Obi wanted to leave Nigeria after his defeat at the Supreme Court, Osuntokun laughed and responded:
“Then you obviously don’t know Peter Obi. Why will he be frustrated? Tell me. After all, he is not desperate for power. He has virtually everything anybody can wish for in life. The status he has achieved is a big bonus in his life. Personally, as a person, he has grown a lot in stature for the majority of Nigerians to look to as a role model. That to me, is a big deal. Why should any of that get him frustrated enough to want to make him turn his back on his country? Not at all.
“What Obi has achieved, even in the little time he spent with the party, is still there. How can he then abandon all he has done because he didn’t get a judgment from the Supreme Court? Obi has no reason to be frustrated. He is not one who sees the aspiration to become the president of Nigeria as a personal acquisition. It is not a personal loss for him. It is a loss for the country. God has raised him far beyond what he was before. There is no logical basis to expect him to be alienated from Nigeria.”
Osuntokun discussed the Labour Party’s strategy for rebuilding the party after the 2023 general elections.
He said: “Well, we have just completed the court case and have not really sat to brainstorm on the next step. But for a party that has come out strongly to establish credibility for itself in the last election, I will expect Nigerians who have been frustrated with the status quo to find sanctuary in the Labour Party, especially members of the young generation. I don’t see what the youth will be looking for in the APC, which represents all that people cannot wish for in this country. I mean it is unimaginable that some people at the National Assembly can say they want to buy N160m Range Rover for each member in this present circumstance.
“At a time like this when desperate measures are needed to tackle our challenges, we are hearing some people using the same loan borrowed to buy SUVs and their excuse was that the ministers have three or more. You can see the sickness we are battling. They are not even admitting that they are doing anything wrong. Instead, they are reminding you there is a bigger sinner out there. The public itself has a role to play.”
