Obasanjo, Obi, Wike, Ortom, Duke, others in London
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, met with the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) Mr. Peter Obi, former presidential aspirant and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, among others, in London.
Although details of the meeting were sketchy, it is believed that the meeting was not unconnected to the 2023 presidential elections.
The former president, who is said to be vehemently opposed to the presidential ambitions of both Sen Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC and Atiku Abubakar of the opposition PDP, is believed to be backing the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi in the national interest.
Wike, who contested for the PDP presidential ticket in May but lost has been at war with the PDP since the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate of the party.
Photographs which emerged from the meeting seem to lay credence to the claim by an aide of one of the governors that the aim of the meeting summoned by Obasanjo was to convince the pro-Wike and anti-Atiku governors, as well as other PDP leaders to align forces with Obi’s presidential bid in the interest of national unity, fairness, peace and progress, as against a rather divisive Tinubu or Atiku ticket.
The governors of Benue, Oyo, and Abia, Samuel Ortom, Seyi Makinde and Okezie Ikpeazu, respectively, attended the crucial meeting.
Also, former Cross River State governor during the tenure of President Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, Mr Donald Duke and other top PDP leaders attended the London meeting.
It would be recalled that the Labour Party recently claimed that no fewer than five APC governors were also backing Peter Obi’s presidential bid behind the scenes.
