New info on the reasons Mr Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and presidential hopeful, resigned from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and withdrew his candidacy for the party’s 2023 presidential ticket has emerged.
After a high-wired game of intrigues and conspiracies, several governors elected on the party’s platform effectively forced him out of the PDP.
Obi, who was the party’s vice-presidential candidate in 2019, during which his South-East zone contributed more votes than the North-East, the zone of the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was left with nothing after the power game, it was learnt.
In 2019, with Obi on the ballot as Atiku’s running mate, the PDP received 1,693,485 votes (75%) from the five South-East states, and 1,255,357 votes (27.5%) from the North-East.
Conversely, the APC polled 403,968 votes (19 per cent) in the South-East and 3,238,783 votes (67.5 per cent) in the North-East.
A top player in the power game in the PDP told newsmen that “Obi was hoping to emerge as the running mate to Atiku again since the PDP, from all indications, is not ready to cede the presidency to the South-East.
“However, most of the PDP governors said they will back Atiku if he makes one of them his running mate. This led to a highwired conspiracy against Obi in the PDP. So he had to look elsewhere to pursue his aspirations.”
Indeed, in his resignation letter to the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, the former Anambra State governor said he was quitting the PDP because the party had made it impossible for him to continue to contribute to nation-building on its platform.
Obi wrote: “I am writing to intimate you of my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party, which was conveyed to the Chairman of Agulu Ward 2. Anaocha LGA, Anambra, effective Friday 20 May 2022. Consequently, I am by this letter informing you of my withdrawal from the PDP Presidential Primaries.
“It has been a great honour to contribute to nation-building efforts through our party. Unfortunately, recent developments within our party make it practically impossible to continue participating and making such constructive contributions
“Our national challenges are deep-seated and require that we each make profound sacrifices towards rescuing our country. My commitment to rescuing Nigeria remains firm, even if the route differs.”
Source: vanguardngr.com