Former presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), former spokesman of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 general elections and now National Coordinator, Obidient Movement, Dr Yunusa Tanko, has opened up on the state of LP and future plans.

In this interview with Sunday Sun, he also spoke on why L.P presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, is deeply concerned about the face off between Chief Afe Babalola and Dele Farotimi, his visit to the duo, Obidient?s preparation for 2027, assessment of the Tinubu presidency, among others. Excerpts:

What is the position of the Obidients movement concerning the rally they are planning to hold due to the arrest and detention of Dele Farotimi?

We are going to look at our options and see what is going to happen. You are aware, His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi, has waded into the issue and visited the key individuals, Chief Afe Babalola himself and Dele Farotimi and some other stakeholders. Of course, this is to show you how dedicated he is in the peaceful settlement of the issue at hand. He worked so hard on this and even sometimes, he didn?t even sleep just to make sure that the whole issue was brought under control, as it was almost taking different negative dimensions. I have pictures of some of the things that he was doing just to make sure that Dele was released. Now that we have got to this level, we as Obidients will have to go back to our table and see how we can ensure that peace is sustained. So, we need to go back to our drawing table to know the best alternative on the next line of action.

Despite what can be seen as his good intentions for intervening, or mediating in the issue between Chief Afe Babalola and Farotimi, Obi?s visit didn?t come without generating criticisms. How do you react to such condemnation?

Those criticisising Peter Obi are those who don?t know his personality or what he stands for. In politics, there are moves that are germane to sustain peace. If you know, even Afe Babalola is one of us as Obidients and Farotimi has been a staunch member of Peter Obi support group. So, the question is, if your two children are fighting, will you choose a particular side or take side with one of them? This is particularly so when one of them is our elder. So, if you are wise, you have to make sure that the two different positions by the two parties are not taken to the extreme and I think that is what Mr Obi simply did. Like I said earlier, you will only criticise Peter Obi because you don?t know him or what he stands for. Peter Obi hates atmosphere of rancour and chaos which he has exemplified on several occasions. He mediated because he has to find a balance for his people and the people who so much believe in him. His Excellency has shown tremendous leadership for taking that stand to meditate between the two men. He went out of his way to meet people and said they had to find a way of settling that matter. Not everything was reported, but His Excellency ensured that the issue never escalated.

As head of the Obidient Movement, you should understandably be privy to Peter Obi?s plans. Is he still in the Labour Party and what are the plans of the Obidient Movement ahead of the 2027 election?

At the moment, we are still members of the Labour Party and we have not made any pronouncement against that. When the time comes, all other issues will be discussed, but for now, His Excellency is still a member of the Labour Party; he has not left the party, but if he has such a plan, it will also be made public.

You said ?we? in your answer; I thought it was said that members of the Obidient Movement do not belong to any political party, but are championing a new Nigeria through Peter Obi; what has changed now?

Nothing has changed, but you should also remember that not all members of the Obidient Movement are Labour Party members. I agree that a lot of the members of the Obidient Movement are members of the Labour Party. Obidient Movement is such a large, in fact, very large group with common interest, but some are members of the Labour Party while some are not. We have one common interest to see a working Nigeria for all. To endure that Nigeria is fixed for the good of all.

There was this trending talk about a possible merger between Mr Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Kwankwaso. As someone very close to Peter Obi, are you aware of such a plan and what is in it for your principal?

We are Obidient Movement with power to make our own decisions regarding any planned merger, but as we speak today, there are discussions here and there, but I guess people are talking about planned merger with Atiku because they saw both men together at American University of Nigeria. Obi went to the institution on invitation as a guest speaker in their event and as a gentleman who believes in democracy and democratic tenets, he reached out. You don?t expect him to run away from friends and family because he contested against them or something like that. Whether they had a discussion or not concerning what you asked, I don?t know, but one thing is certain, Obi is an open-minded person and if there is anything concrete or by the time there is something like that, everyone will hear it. The photos people saw of Obi and Atiku are just friendly visits and interactions because that is in his character to reach out. People should not attach so much meaning to Peter Obi meeting people or interacting with people; if he has any reason to liaise with anyone, he would make it public at the right time. Of course, you can give it to Obi, he wants the best for Nigeria and such challenge requires robust and wide interaction, consultations.

2027 is far and at the same time it is not too far; what is the spread of the Obidient Movement and what is the movement doing to ensure that the frenzy in 2023 is replicated for Peter Obi?

That is an interesting question. We are still on top of it, we are working. We are trying to cover everywhere that needs to be covered. We are putting all our discussions together and I hope you are not expecting me to publicise everything we are doing right now? We have our strategies very close to our heart and I can tell you that all the loopholes are being covered right now. We are even more and far better and well spread than in 2023, but you may not know because we are keeping our plans and strategies to our heart. At the appropriate time you will see what we have been able to do. We are not resting on our oars, we are working, restrategising.

What can you say about Peter Obi?s massive reach outs since after the last election?

His Excellency is one person that loves to help people, to show people love and ensure that the society is at peace. He wants to see people happy and to have good living standards, that is his major concern which propelled him to even vie for the presidency in 2023. He campaigned and travelled the length and breadth of this country and he saw people and their needs. This made him continue from where he stopped becausee if you know Peter Obi, you know he likes to help people even before he contested election. Now this is what has never happened in this country before that a politician lost an election and since then, he has been going around the country helping and donating to people, providing for them; of course, he saw all these needs during his campaign. It has always been that when people lose elections, they leave the stage and resurface in the next election, but Peter Obi has continued to ensure that people are happy with his many interventions. He is even stronger and more gingered to reach out to the people in their areas of need now and he has been moving both within and outside the country. He has been reaching out in the country where the people are feeling the heat of this present government. To me that is how politics should be played, he is moving and connecting with the people.

But his critics have condemned his frequent movements around the country, saying this is a ploy ahead of the 2027 election. To them, he hadn?t been doing that and why now??

(Cuts in) That is not true and like I said earlier, such people don?t know the person of Peter Obi. I will give you a simple explanation. His Excellency, when he was not running for an election, went as far as Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti supporting people, it is a fact and you can fact-check it. That is what he had been doing. However, I will agree with you that now he lost election, he is doing it more vigorously, but that is also because his campaign afforded him the chance to further see what Nigerians are going through after he toured all parts of the country. To him, he is more concerned about the Nigerian people because he understands better what they are going through. The question you would have asked is, why are others not doing the same thing because they also understand the situation in the country and what Nigerians are going through. The simple answer is because they are not concerned, but are only concerned with the election and how they could win. When election draws closer now, you will see them jumping into the political ring again. That is not how to play politics. They should emulate the Peter Obi style of politics if they are sincere.

Given the current hardship in the country obviously caused by the policies of the present administration, what do you think Peter Obi would have done differently if he is on the saddle as the president?

There are so many fantastically beneficial things he would have done; Peter Obi would not have superintended a country almost crumbling upon its citizens. If Peter Obi is in the saddle, I would have told you that the Abuja-Kaduna road would have been done by now; I would have told you that there won?t be anything like Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway when virtually all our roads are bad and are begging for attention and Nigerians dying on those roads because of their poor conditions. I would have told you that before he even talked of fuel subsidy removal, he would have made provisions for its effect; he would not have done it as a fiat without making preparations for how Nigerians will not suffer untold hardship as they are going through today; I would have told you that there is no way Peter Obi would have been president and you will be buying a bag of rice for N100,000. I would have told you that there won?t be wastages and unaccounted expenses as we have seen in the country right now. There are wasteful spending in the country now while the people are dying of hunger and I can tell you for sure that under Peter Obi, such would not have happened as he is known for prudence and judicious management of resources. There are so many grey areas right now in the country that demands quality leadership and these are what Peter Obi would have tackled headlong. He would have done so much to ensure Nigerians would not be suffering the way they are suffering today. Peter Obi would have made policies that would be for the people, pro-people policies but this particular government is making anti-people policies without even showing any form of change or remorse. The worst part of it is that they don?t even care about the welfare of the people and this is what baffles me the most.

Everyone believes that the Nigerian electoral system is grossly flawed. Among the supporters of the Labour Party, Peter Obi won the election, but he was denied through the system. Do you believe that he stands any chance in 2027 with the same flawed electoral system?

I agree with you completely on this and that is why we are challenging the government for electoral reform. We in the Obidient Movement are liaising with others for programme on electoral laws and the imperative of getting it right this time. But the issue has gone beyond the electoral laws; it is the people that have to change their disposition towards the election because even any change to the electoral laws can still be flouted by the same individuals. For instance, there are things you can be given as a judge to do and you actually know that, that thing is wrong. It now behooves on you to do the right thing and preserve your integrity that is what we are talking about. Look, it is not that we don?t have good laws in Nigeria, we have good laws here, but unfortunately people manipulate those laws for their own selfish reasons and to serve their pay masters. If Nigerians want to do the right thing, they can do it, but the first problem is that we have to change our mindsets. (Sunday Sun)

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