Okezie Ikpeazu, Governor of Abia State, has warned his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) about “The Peter Obi effect” ahead of the 2023 elections.

Ikpeazu, who lost his senatorial bid, said the massive support for Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, was one of the major reasons his party lost the Abia governorship election.

Remember that Ikpeazu’s preferred candidate, Okey Ahiwe, lost the Abia governorship election to Labour Party candidate Alex Otti. Ahiwe took over for the PDP’s original candidate, Uche Ikonne, who died just weeks before the election.

The governor predicted that Obi would change the political game in the South East and advised his party to prepare for it at the polls.

Ikpeazu said during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday that reasonable politicians should not ignore what Obi was doing.

He said:

That Peter Obi effect, I predicted it and told my party. I even volunteered that reasonable politicians should not ignore what Peter Obi was doing.

Speaking further, Ikpeazu said he never personally campaigned against the LP flagbearer as all he wanted was a president from the Southern region of the country.

The governor said he would see how the former Anambra State governor would manage the groundswell of support that he had gathered before the election.

He said:

What would happen going forward will be determined by how Peter Obi manages the groundswell of support that he had gathered. How is he going to funnel this towards an agenda that can eventually materialize in his dream?