The presidential ambition of the Labour Party (LP) flagbearer, Peter Obi, has suffered a massive setback after the LP presidential campaign spokesperson for Northeast, Muhammad Pantami, and other officials defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Pantami and other top officials of the Obi-Datti campaign announced their defection at a press conference on Tuesday.
The former Labour Party chieftains publicly declared their support for the PDP’s presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The LP chieftains accused Peter Obi and the party of tribalism, godfatherism, and lack of internal democracy.
Pantami said: “Based on the aforementioned issues raised, we the leaders, and stakeholders of about four million voters in the North East states of Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi Gombe, and Borno, resolved to quit from the LP and resolved to declare our full support to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.”
According to him, the mainstream political decisions of the party and the presidential campaign council are tilted towards a particular region, the southern part of the country, thereby sideling northerners.
He said: “We the northerners, constitute about 65 percent of the voting in the presidential election. Our members are totally not satisfied with this situation.
“Despite the fact that the north has a greater percentage of voters, this problem of sideling persists, the current situation calls for action.“
