Middle Belt Forum Directs It’s People To Vote Obi, Says PDP Chieftain, As ‘PDP Group For Peter Obi’ Also Do Likewise
The Oasis Reporters
February 22, 2023
While an internal PDP group whose spokesman is Mr Ogbeide Isibor- Ifaluyi has said that the group he belongs to, ‘PDP for Peter Obi’ has decided to vote for Peter Obi at the presidential election on February 25, 2023 and vote his party for other positions, the leadership of the Middle Belt Forum alongside other regional groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Pan Niger Delta Forum had earlier in February endorsed Obi, are doing something similar by making the presidency exclusively for Peter Obi.
Middle Belt Forum Has Directed Our People To Vote Obi — PDP Chieftainhttps://t.co/V2z0U1vOiy pic.twitter.com/gTDdYVuHke
— Channels Television (@channelstv) February 22, 2023
PDP member Adakole Ijogi on The 2023 Verdict on Monday, February 22, 2023.
A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adakole Ijogi, said the Middle Belt Forum has directed the people of the area to vote for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
#InCaseYouMissedIt: 2023 Elections: T. Y. Danjuma, Christian Elders Declare Support For Obihttps://t.co/ovbFLly38e pic.twitter.com/OyLO68acz5
— Channels Television (@channelstv) February 22, 2023
He also said he will vote for the former Anambra State governor on February 25 and expressed doubt on the chances of his party’s flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar.
“The leadership of the Middle Belt Forum has resolved that for the presidential election, it is not about (the) party this time around, it’s about (the) candidate.
“So, the Middle Belt people have been directed to vote for former governor, Peter Obi of the Labour Party for only the presidential election. Then in other elections they have been advised to vote for the PDP. So, we will be voting for Obi,” he said on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Wednesday.
The leadership of the Middle Belt Forum alongside other regional groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Pan Niger Delta Forum had earlier in February endorsed Obi.
Ijogi, who is a political economist, claimed that about 50% of PDP members would not be voting for Atiku, saying that they will vote for Obi because he stands out among the other candidates.
He said the decision of the Middlebelt Forum concerning the 2023 presidential election transcends political party and that the people have gone through a whole lot in the last few years, including killings, kidnappings among others.
Ijogi noted that Obi has made successful inroads in the Middle Belt and would get the votes which hitherto went to the PDP.
The Middle Belt in Nigeria include Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Kwara, amongst others. Already, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has endorsed Obi for President.
“When you look at the 2019 election PDP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar got over 25% in the six states of the North Central and FCT. If you look at the North-East, the PDP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar could only pull 25% in 3 states, his home state of Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe, he had 9% in Yobe, 9% in Borno and then when you go to the North-West it was also like that.
“Just Sokoto, Jigawa and Kaduna, and even in Kaduna it is Southern Kaduna which is part of the Middlebelt, and these are the areas the Peter Obi movement has now occupied. So I will tell you that the Middle-Belt is highly and very unlikely to vote PDP this coming election,” Ijogi added.
In another development, former president Goodluck Jonathan has warned against the search for power in an inordinate way.
2023 Elections: Don’t Seek Power At All Costs, Jonathan Tells Politicianshttps://t.co/T8tdl6ZDuF pic.twitter.com/J76MeR7HUI
— Channels Television (@channelstv) February 22, 2023
It would be recalled that it was former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who spearheaded the internal PDP rebellion nicknamed nPDP that not only gave Jonathan a very uncomfortable campaign time in northern Nigeria leading to the loss of power to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar eventually led his nPDP Bloc out of the party to join the All Progressive Congress (APC) that ushered in Muhammadu Buhari into power for the next eight years.
Atiku Abubakar finally fell out with the APC and he rejoined the PDP, at a time it was agreed that power should shift to the South for the next two terms.
The former Vice President manoeuvred his way by circumventing the golden party rule to retain power in his hands and in the north, through the uncommon snatch of the Party presidential ticket which has now been made hollow by the ordinary people of the country.
Therefore the table has turned full circle. What he perpetrated against Goodluck Jonathan who merely asked to complete a two-term tenure by the four more years he sought then handover to the north and was rejected by Atiku Abubakar has come to haunt the former Vice President.
Additional reporting: ChannelsTV
