Accord party’s presidential candidate, Prof. Christopher Imumolen, has ruled out the possibility of the Labour Party producing the successor of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
He said though the LP presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, remain a good man, he had chosen the “wrong party” to actualise his dream.
Imumolen said this while justifying his earlier comments that he would appoint some presidential candidates, including Obi as cabinet members if he becomes Nigeria’s president next month.
“The reactions which have trailed my recent statements on Tinubu and Obi, good or bad, now make it imperative that I should throw more light on why I said both personalities who are also my co-aspirants in the ongoing presidential race will work with me in the task of salvaging Nigeria from the abyss of stagnation and underdevelopment if I become president.
“The statements are sincere and were not borne out of malice. As a matter of fact, my decision to pick these eminent personalities as potential members of my cabinet shows the kind of regard I have for them.
“Obi is a nice man. But he is in the wrong party,” Imumolen said in a statement issued by his Media Office on Thursday.
He added, “Labour Party – the party under which he (Obi) is planning to actualise his dream of becoming Nigeria’s president if I must say, is actually a liability, not an asset. I am aware of the popularity Labour Party has gained over the few months with some persons now regarding it as a third force despite not being truly tested in a full-blown election.
“But the truth is that Labour Party, as presently constituted, cannot deliver the intended change that Nigeria earnestly seeks because it is bewitched! A party where a list of unexplained mysteries has been occurring unabatedly does not give any reasonable Nigerian confidence going into very important elections come this February. Now, consider these instances. A party where a woman leader was killed in Kaduna, where a senatorial candidate in Imo State has been kidnapped with no signs of his whereabouts.
“A party where a youth leader was recently indicted for creating a personal account to raise funds purportedly for Obi’s campaigns, a party where their highly respected campaign Director General, Doyin Okupe was jailed for money laundering offences.
“Add that to a gubernatorial candidate of the party kidnapped in Anambra State last year without a trace, and the mysterious death of the party’s national chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, in 2020, and it will be clear to many that the Labour Party is not only bewitched but incapable of giving Nigeria the president of the calibre she seeks in the upcoming general elections,” he said.
Reacting to Imumolen’s claim, the LP Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, wondered why Imumolen and his team preempting the outcome of the presidential election at a time they should be focused on their campaign.
Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday evening, Tanko said, “Why will they concern themselves with us? They should run their race while we also run our own race. At the moment now, Accord is not even ranked among the first three political parties contesting for the presidency but Labour Party ranked number one. In several opinion polls, we came number one and even the one by ThisDay Newspaper, we came number one and they projected that Labour party will win 15 states.
“So, we are not perturbed. We are only running our race and facing our candidate and Insha Allah, our candidate will win this election. We just finished from a rally here in Enugu State and you need to see the organic love that was shown to Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed.”