By CHUKS EKE
Chief Obinna Okafor, the Labour Party, LP, candidate of Anambra State House of Assembly for Oyi state constituency has explained the rationale behind the defection of LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, himself and other prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to Labour Party.
Okafor who made the disclosure, weekend, during the new yam festival of his Nkwelle-Ezunaka community, Oyi Local Government Area, hinted that they decamped from the PDP, to LP, because PDP did not treat Southeast zone fairly since inception of this present dispensation in 1999.
Okafor further explained that himself, Peter Obi and others were chieftains of PDP, and have been loyal and voted massively for the party more than other geopolitical zones but when they discovered that Southeast geopolitical zone has not been treated fairly, they decided to dump the party as a group.
According to Okafor, “The first time we believed it was our time was in 1999 when the late Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, contested for Presidency but it was given to Obasanjo, to appease the South West because of the death of MKO Abiola”.
” Now this 2023 should be the second chance for the Southeast but somewhere along the line PDP thwarted our chance and some of us who are progressives, left PDP because of this, to labour Party”.
On the intra PDP crisis now rocking the party, the House of Assembly hopeful, reiterated that one could not after building a house, left it for another person to inhabit
To buttress his point he stated that, “In 2015, the likes of Tambuwa, Atiku Abubakar, Saraki, Rotimi Amaechi, among others, left us in PDP for APC, to be with President Mohammadu Buhari, and that is what we are suffering today.
“We had Wike, who stood his ground and uplifted the party financially, morally and get the party to where it is today. If there is anything like inheritance, Wike should inherit the Presidential ticket of PDP and not Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Should Wike be the Presidential candidate of PDP, yes!
Explaining further he stated that the North, through President Mohammadu Buhari, is about rounding up for the South to take over, adding that, “Why should we have another Muslim Northerner in a circular State like Nigeria.
The LP candidate who hinted that he has three political beliefs that will better the welfare of his people, stated that if the Presidency goes to the North in 2023, “Then you don’t want the unity of the country”.
He listed his three political beliefs to include, politics of engagement of people in all he does, public fund for the public and quality representation, adding that the only constant thing in life is change, “from where we share money to where we engage people, ‘Obidient”.
