Yunusa Tanko, the representative for Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate for the 2023 presidency, has refuted any merger talks with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This counter-statement follows the comments by Ibrahim Abdullahi, PDP’s Deputy National Spokesperson, who, during a live political show, suggested that Nigeria’s leading opposition figures were contemplating a coalition to confront the issues of hunger and insecurity for the 2027 presidential race.
Paul Ibe, the media consultant for Atiku Abubakar, seconded Abdullahi’s assertion.
He said;
“Atiku has been consistent about an alliance of the opposition. His position has become more pertinent than ever because Nigeria, currently under Tinubu’s administration, is on life support. We have had failures with trial-and-error policies. Hunger is the order of the day, even among his supporters.”
In a conversation with Punch, Ibe maintained that Atiku has been consistent in his support for unification.
However, in sharp contrast, Yunusa denied these allegations, emphasizing that his chief, Peter Obi, was concentrating on strengthening his political foundation.
Yunusa, during his chat with the publication, said that merger rumours have resurfaced since political scheming started, and the 2027 presidential race holds significant implications.
Yunusa stated that despite being flattered by the development, Peter Obi, drawing lessons from past election missteps, has focused on fortifying his nationwide structure.
“I heard about the merger discussion. But what we are interested in doing now basically is to build on our nationwide structure. You can take that one to the bank. We just want to have the bulk of our people everywhere because we observed our inability to have the right people on the ground in the last election.
“We depended on some persons who failed us, but now we want to have our people. I hope you are aware that the Obedient Movement is everywhere. It cuts across political parties. So that makes us bigger and stronger. Some of them are in PDP, APC and everywhere.
“Anybody interested in good governance is an Obedient person because the movement is up against bad governance. That is all. We don’t have any agenda apart from that.”
