Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has declared that there’s zero possibility of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mr Peter Obi, wining the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku said his erstwhile running mate in the Ferbruary 2019 presidential election, was merely popular on the social media and that he had no political structure to beat him and the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former Vice President, also revealed that Obi did not inform him of his move until three days after his defection to the Labour Party.
Atiku made his views known while speaking on Arise TV, aired on Friday’s edition of its breakfast programme, The Morning Show. He spoke against the backdrop of the wave Obi is currently making across the country with his Obidient Movement, arguing that nobody should expect the former Anambra governor and LP to pull off a surprise to win the 2023 presidential election.
He also dismissed the contention that the LP would divide the votes meant for the PDP, citing the performance of the party in the just concluded governorship election in Osun, wondering how far the party could go without governors, members of the National Assembly and state assemblies.
He said: “I really don’t expect the Labour Party to take as many votes from the PDP as people are suggesting. We could have seen it in the last election in Osun state. What is the performance of the Labour Party?
“This is a party that doesn’t have a governor, doesn’t have members of the National Assembly, doesn’t have state assembly members, and politics in this country depends on the structures you have at the various levels — at the local government level, at the state level, and at the national level.
“So, it is very difficult to expect a miracle to happen, simply because Peter Obi is in the Labour Party. After all, they were saying through social media, they had more than one million votes in Osun state. But how many votes turned for the Labour Party? And then again, mark you, you’re talking about social media. In the North, 90 per cent of our people are not tuned to social media.”
