The endorsement of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ijaw Leader Chief Edwin Clark has further weakened the Peoples Democratic Congress (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) said yesterday.

According to the council, the rejection of the PDP by its old allies meant that defeat was imminent for its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in next month’s poll.

APC-PCC Spokesman Festus Keyamo (SAN), who reacted to the endorsement onChannelsTelevision programme,Politics Today, maintained that Atiku’s support base had collapsed.

Clark, former Information Minister and Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) leader, explained that he supported Obi because a Northerner should not succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in next month’s election.

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, who also hailed the endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo and Clark, said the LP candidate has an edge over other flagbearers.

But, the Atiku-Okowa Campaign spokesman, Senator Dino Melaye, flayed Obasanjo, Clark and Ortom, saying that their actions lacked basis.

Keyamo, who spoke on the implication of the endorsements for PDP and Atiku, said they may contribute to the party’s defeat at the poll.

The Minister of State for Employment maintained that following the endorsements,the PDP campaign council and the opposition party have collapsed.

Keyamo said: “The key figures of the PDP in 2019 are the ones pulling out from the coalition. Nothing has affected the APC.

“If you look at 2019, you will see that virtually everything against the APC has collapsed.The PANDEF endorsed Atiku Abubakar in 2019 and Edwin Clarke is a member of PANDEF.

“Ohanaezeendorsed Atiku in 2019.Obasanjo endorsed Atku in 2019.Afenifereendorsed Atiku in 2019. Middlebelt Forum endorsed Atiku in 2019.

“What is going on now is that the PDP has actually been turned into shrewd, both internally and externally, through the G-5 governors and imploded even within the supporters and all those that formed alliance with the PDP in 2019.

“Of the results in 2019, can you name any major stakeholder that made the APC win the election then, who has pulled out now? Not one!”

He added: “But for the PDP, the departure of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who were key components of the PDP in 2019 have since pulled out. Those two factors have upset the PDP now.So, we can confidently say that the PDP has collapsed both internally and externally.

“The recent endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo and Clark was not against the APC, but the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

“I am sure you heard Governor Nyesom Wike’s comment on the development, who said that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi was an indictment on Atiku.

“And we know that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku in 2019 was because of Peter Obi, who was the vice presidential candidate at the time.

“Like Obasanjo, Edwin Clark, who endorsed Atiku/Obi’s ticket in 2019, has followed Obi from the PDP to the Labour Party.What is the effect of that on the APC? Rather, this has made the path to the APC’s victory clearer. These endorsements have made the results of the 2023 presidential election clearer now than before.

“Also, we want them to take those votes they brought to the PDP in 2019 to the Labour Party 2023, while the APC continues to wax stronger.”

Clark endorses Obi

Clark said giving the opportunity for a Southeasterner to lead the country will give a true meaning to the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon’s mantra after the civil war of “no victor no vanquished.”

He said: “The decision of the leaders of Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt Forum, which I also lead, is that the Northern part of the country, as represented by President Muhammadu Buhari, which would have completed full eight years as President by 29th May, 2023, should yield power to candidates from the South for purpose of unity, equity and fair play.

“That the Southeast geo-political zone, which has not produced any elected President of this country since after the First Republic, and particularly during this Fourth Republic, should be given the opportunity to produce the next President of Nigeria, given that the zone has the capacity to present highly competent and qualified persons for the office.

“That, this will bring to practical expression the commitment of the General Yakubu Gowon-led Federal Military Government of ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’, a dictum, at the end of the Nigeria Civil War in 1970.”

He added: “Given his sound educational background, distinguished antecedent in professional life and track record as one of the most outstanding governors this country has ever produced during his tenure in Anambra State and his vision for the country and the Niger Delta in particular, His Excellency Peter Obi is eminently qualified to lead this country as President.

“I formally hereby announce that I will, therefore, personally, vote for Peter Obi and his vice presidential candidate on election day, Feb 25, as president and vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Ortom hails Obasanjo on endorsement

Ortom said if he were not a PDP member, he would have personally led Obi’s campaign across the country.

He said Obi “possesses the qualities of a leader who will be a true president of this country by guaranteeing justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians”.

Ortom, in a statement by his media aide, Terver Akase, saidObi has the capacity to effectively tackle the economic, security and other challenges facing the country.”

‘Obasanjo can’t give direction’

However, Melaye flayed Obasanjo’s assumed role as a facilitator of succeeding presidents in Nigeria and one of the “owners of Nigeria”.

He said the former president has continued to create the false impression of being in charge of the political direction of the country.

Melaye said in a statement that the ex-president’s endorsement was another testimony of his misconception of being an electoral janitor who can padlock and unlock Nigeria’s electoral fortune at will.

He said: “Since President Olusegun (Obasanjo) wrote his controversial book, My Command, there are telling indicators to deduce that he has tried to live in the reality of being in charge always.

“To be sure, he has tried to impress as the facilitator of succeedingpresidents of Nigeria. Ironically, this attitude has grouped him among those euphemistically tagged ‘Owners of Nigeria’.

“In the period preceding the 2015 elections, Obasanjo, in his characteristic janitorial expedition, aligned with the marketers of false change.

“He even tore the membership card of the party that gave him the opportunity to be President of Nigeria for 8 years. He also appeared in photo opportunities with Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“A few months after Buhari’s election, Obasanjo realised that he had misled himself and many Nigerians. He tried to fight back in 2019, but by then, Buhari had designed some unorthodox ways to remain in power.

“With about 50 days to the 2023 election, former President Obasanjo is out again as the ‘custodian’of the key to Aso Rock, endorsing a candidate whose main office would be in Abeokuta with the annex office in Abuja.

“It is hypocritical and politically heretic to appeal to Nigerian youths to take their turn by supporting a candidate who is far older than many other young flag bearers. This is the facade in Obasanjo’s postulation.”

Melaye said it is not surprising that Obasanjo is not supporting Atiku, adding that the PDP candidate does not need the permutation of “electoral janitors” who dictate the political direction of Nigeria.

Melaye said Atiku’s sins against Obasanjo was his resistance to attempts by Obasanjo to remove him from office as vice president and his decision to contest for president in the 2007 election, against the former President’s wish.

He added: “The good side of Obasanjo’s self-serving electoral sermon is the advance warning that Peter Obi is being supported to serve as an errand boy to Obasanjo.”

In apparent reference to Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5, the PDP campaign spokesman said the electorate in the five states have not taken oath of electoral allegiance with the five governors.

“As it is the case with Obasanjo, there are other electoral janitors, particularly some state governors, who have been boasting that the electorate in their state would vote as directed.

“First, the electorate in those states have not taken oaths of electoral allegiance, and second, the consciousness of the Nigerian electorate has grown beyond intimidation, manipulation, and deception.

“How can a governor who never consulted his people on governance in eight years now pretend to be taking them into confidence in the dying days of his administration?

“The 2023 election will be a revelation of electoral consciousness, electoral independence, and electoral advancement. Those who seek to keep Nigerians in electoral hypnotism will wake up to discover that Nigerians have moved beyond the lock and key democracy, where janitors operate as if they are in the needle and thread race that were athletic events in post-colonial Nigeria.” (The Nation: Text, excluding headline)