Peter Obi is not desperate for power and is not frustrated to want to leave Nigeria because he lost an election, says the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, while speaking during a recent interview.
The Labour Party (LP) chieftain, who was speaking on the 2023 presidential election and the 171-day legal battle seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu, debunked the speculations that Obi is considering leaving the country. According to him, the LP presidential candidate has achieved all that anyone can dream of having.
Laughing to a question by journalists on whether the rumour that Obi may dump Nigeria following his loss at the Supreme Court was true, Osuntokun said: “Then you obviously don’t know Peter Obi. Why will he be frustrated? Tell me. After all, he is not desperate for power. He has virtually everything anybody can wish for in life. The status he has achieved is a big bonus in his life. Personally, as a person, he has grown a lot in stature for the majority of Nigerians to look to as a role model. That to me, is a big deal. Why should any of that get him frustrated enough to want to make him turn his back on his country? Not at all.
“What Obi has achieved, even in the little time he spent with the party, is still there. How can he then abandon all he has done because he didn’t get a judgment from the Supreme Court? Obi has no reason to be frustrated. He is not one who sees the aspiration to become the president of Nigeria as a personal acquisition. It is not a personal loss for him. It is a loss for the country. God has raised him far beyond what he was before. There is no logical basis to expect him to be alienated from Nigeria.”
On how the Labour Party plans to rebuild the party following the events of the general 2023 elections, Osuntokun said: “Well, we have just completed the court case and have not really sat to brainstorm on the next step. But for a party that has come out strongly to establish credibility for itself in the last election, I will expect Nigerians who have been frustrated with the status quo to find sanctuary in the Labour Party, especially members of the young generation. I don’t see what the youth will be looking for in the APC, which represents all that people cannot wish for in this country. I mean it is unimaginable that some people at the National Assembly can say they want to buy N160m Range Rover for each member in this present circumstance.
“At a time like this when desperate measures are needed to tackle our challenges, we are hearing some people using the same loan borrowed to buy SUVs and their excuse was that the ministers have three or more. You can see the sickness we are battling. They are not even admitting that they are doing anything wrong. Instead, they are reminding you there is a bigger sinner out there. The public itself has a role to play.”