The United Coalition of Peter Obi Support Group has vowed to remain committed to Obi’s candidacy indefinitely.
According to a statement jointly signed on behalf of the Peter Obi Support Groups, by Convener, Obi Nationalist Movement, Yahaya Madaki, President, Obidient New Nigeria Coalition, Ebohon Eseosa, Chairperson, Peter Obi Amazons, Chinwe Njemanze and National Coordinator, United Coalition of Peter Obi Support Group, Olajide Fafowora, said that no support group is pulling out of the coalition of groups supporting the presidential candidacy of Mr. Peter Obi as they are fully in support of him because they see him as the individual best positioned to put Nigeria on the path to prosperity and progress,
An excerpt is the full text of the press release from the coalition:
Our attention has been drawn to a report in newspapers and online blogs indicating an imminent withdrawal of support for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, His Excellency, Peter Obi, by some Support Groups established to facilitate the election of the former Governor of Anambra State as President of Nigeria.
The report, titled, “OBIDIENT: 25 support groups to quit Peter Obi’s campaign over candidate’s false statistics’’, said as many as 25 support groups hitherto working to ensure Mr. Obi’s election as the next President of Nigeria, are on the verge of parting ways with him over what they termed his “high-handedness and his penchant for reeling false statistics”.
The unsigned report alluded to tension in the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (LPPCC) and Mr. Obi not “carrying others along in planning”.
Ordinarily, we do not make a point of duty to join issues with faceless individuals seeking the attention of the public through underhand means. We are, however, constrained to respond this time because in addition to spreading what is deliberate falsehood against our presidential candidate and misinforming the Nigerian public, this faceless group of charlatans, has also committed an act of impersonation by claiming to be representatives of three-member groups in our coalition.
To set the records straight, there is no disquiet in the family of support groups actively ramping up support for the candidacy of His Excellency Peter Obi. The family remains united and committed to the project of electing him as Nigeria’s president come February 2023. We aver with every sense of responsibility that there is no strain in the relationship between him and the support groups. If any exists, it will only be in the imagination of the concocters of the vile and abhorrent drivel intended to smear the reputation of one of Nigeria’s finest sons.
Relations between the thousands of Peter Support Groups around the country and in the Diaspora and Mr. Obi himself are as rosy and cooperative as ever. This relationship was reinforced recently at a meeting between the two parties where he outlined his vision for a New Nigeria and extracted continued support from the group to help him make this possible.
Mr. Obi is an internationally respected politician and businessman with decades of experience presiding over boards of leading companies and institutions in Nigeria. Accusing him of bandying false statistics is therefore the height of mischief. He has at all times accurately purveyed facts and data to capture the true situation on national and international economic issues. Indeed, at the last Townhall Meeting organized by Arise Television, His Excellency, Peter Obi was fact-checked on some of his key pronouncements and was found to be correct on all of them.
We make bold to say that the allegation of dishing out false statistics leveled against our candidate by this band of impersonators, is a clear case of ‘the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob’. This allegation, coming less than twenty-four hours after the presidential candidate of the ruling party made the same baseless allegation, shows clearly where this is all coming from. Here in Nigeria, it is said among our rural folk that when a witch cries in the dead of the night and a child is found dead in the morning, there is no prize for guessing who the killer of the child is.
For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state as follows:
“No support group is pulling out of the coalition of groups supporting the presidential candidacy of His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi. We are fully in support of him because we see him as the individual best positioned to put Nigeria on the path to prosperity and progress,
“We also want to place on record that the three Support Groups, the Obi Nationalist Movement, Obidient New Nigeria Coalition, and Peter Obi Amazons, mentioned in the reports as part of those planning to cut ties with His Excellency Peter Obi, remain irrevocably committed to the project of electing Peter Obi as president of Nigeria in February 2023.
“Finally, we wish to state unequivocally that the individual quoted in the story purporting to be Dr. Rejoice Okey, and said to be representing one of the support groups is a ghost unknown to us. He is a creation of the orchestrators of this mischief whose sole aim is to deny Nigerians the opportunity for good and human governance of our country to pave the way for their unrelenting assault on the national treasury”.
