A former governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, has advised the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to withdraw his petition challenging the victory of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, in the February 25 presidential election.
Nnamani, who described Obi’s petition before the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal in Abuja as dead on arrival, said rather than pursue a court case, Obi should join Tinubu in the task of building a new nation.
He called on Obi and his supporters “to align with the ebullience and conviviality of welcoming Tinubu’s victory to the Office of the President of the greatest black nation on earth.”
Nnamani made the call in a statement on Sunday, saying Obi, who came placed third in the presidential polls, could not have won because he neither had the spread nor the appeal to become Nigeria’s President.
He labelled Obi’s petition challenging Tinubu’s victory as “bad belle, petulance and demarketing.”
Nnamani said, “His petition is dead on arrival. He does not have the spread or national appeal. His appeal to non-electoral matters is to demarket the President-elect and besmirch his reputation.
“His petition is ego-driven, a joke carried too far. His attempt to highlight non-electoral issues is trying to embarrass the President-elect.
“Obi needs to come down from his high horse to allow sedate minds to negotiate on behalf of the Igbo and the South-East for a safe landing to include our stake in the national palavar and share of the accruals of the commonwealth.
“We must join the mainstream and participate in making a new Nigeria. We are not going anywhere. We de kampe and ready to bargain for our own share. It is common knowledge that others are doing the same.
“Igbo has to confront reality now or be consigned to the backwoods of history. Time to align is now.”
Reacting, the Chief Spokesman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, berated Nnamani over his alleged fixation on the activities of LP presidential candidate.
Tanko stated that he found the senator’s interference with Obi campaign annoying and unbecoming of an elder statesman.
He said, “Why is Nnamani much interested in this case? What concerns him with regards to Tinubu? I think he should just allow us to live our lives and take decision on what concerns the Nigerian people. Peter Obi is not doing what he is doing because of himself but for the people.
“I think he should just have peace in his mind and let us be. His continual interest into our activities is unacceptable. He should let us be. We have no issue with him. After all, he didn’t contest the presidential election. We are not doing anything against the interest of democracy in any way. I think his incursion into our activities is unbecoming and totally unacceptable.”