Peter Obi: Obasanjo’s endorsement will have no effect on presidential election outcome — Yoruba group
By Ismail Azeez, Osogbo
Members of a sociopolitical group, Yoruba Progressives Forum (YPF) has said the declaration of support for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, in the coming general elections, would have no effect on the outcome of the poll.
Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi is coming on the heels of political tension in his former political party, the PDP, where the G5 Governors are at loggerheads with Obasanjo’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is vying to be president.
The group said though Obasanjo, being a former president and citizen of the country, has his right to support any presidential candidate, but such publicised endorsement from an elder statesman could paint other contenders bad in the face of the generality of the country.
Speaking at the annual general meeting and special prayer organised by the group to usher in the new year, the YPF National Coordinator, Alhaji AbdulLateef Olalekan said the former president is entitled to his own personal opinion.
Olalekan said among the three major presidential candidates, every Nigerian knows that the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is most qualified.
Olalekan praised Tinubu’s antecedents in Lagos, saying the APC Presidential Candidate built more churches and employed other ethnic groups than any governor in the history of the country.
He said, “Honestly it pains us when we read what people are saying and writing about our baba, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo since his latest letter because he remains our father as one of the Yoruba leaders.
“Though, we are happy because other leaders of Yoruba have openly endorsed Tinubu and they have made their decision known to the people of the country, especially south-westerners that it’s the turn of Asiwaju who they said has paid his dues.
“Obi will not only lose woefully and may well be driven into fourth place, but he may also lose his deposit and much more.”
The group therefore urged the people of the country to come out en masse and cast their votes for Tinubu.
