Supporters of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in Abia state, have raised alarm over his planned visit to Abia state on Thursday, urging him to kindly cancel the proposed visit to forestall breakdown of law and order.
Speaking in a statement jointly signed by the Coordinator, Peter Obi Grassroots Movement (POGM), Abia state, Mazi Chetachi Ikpe, and Chairman, Obidient Across Parties Alliance (OAPA), Hon. Chief Ndubueze Obiakwata, on behalf of Abia Obidients, said his visit will heighten the already tensed political atmosphere in the state, adding that the visit is a situation fraught with serious security threats.
“We are all members of various political parties, who all worked for the LP presidential candidate’s victory at the polls in the state and we are of the firm belief that Obi has played his part by coming severally to Abia to campaign for LP even though we (Abia Obidients) mobilised virtually all citizens of the state to vote for him at the just concluded presidential election. We therefore urge him to ignore those pushing him to come back to the state for LP campaigns, as it could worsen the already tense security situation in the state, ahead of Saturday’s governorship/ House of Assembly elections.”
The National President, Ukwa-ngwa Youth Vanguard, Mazi Enyianyi Bright, and National Secretary, Ukwa-Ngwa Youth Vanguard, Hon Nwankwo Chukwudi, also urged Obi to shelve his visit to Aba, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 16th March 2023.
“Youths of the great Ukwa-Ngwa nation salute the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi for making us proud by putting up a sterling performance in the just concluded presidential election.
“Even though he ran as a pan Nigerian candidate, we are proud of him as an Igbo son and thank Nigerians for obediently voting for him despite the electoral robbery we witnessed with INEC’s apparent complicity. We urge him to go all out and recover his stolen mandate, by all appropriate and legal means. However, as the owners of Aba-Ngwa (Enyimba City), we advise him to shelve his visit to Aba. From our investigations, he is coming to campaign for Alex Otti, the LP governorship candidate and it will be deemed by us as divisive and highly provocative.
“Regardless of party differences, we all voted for him during the presidential election. As such, the votes he got in Ukwa- Ngwa land and across Abia state was certainly not from only LP members. He has done enough to campaign for Otti and should allow Ndi Abia to decide who to vote for based on competence, credibility, and capacity, regardless of party affiliation.
“His coming to Aba tomorrow against our advice will be very provocative and divisive. Rather, he should go to Port Harcourt, Rivers state where Governor Nyesom Wike brutally and violently robbed him of his electoral victory, not Aba, where our brother, Okezie Ikpeazu gave him total support in all ramifications to the extent of foregoing his senatorial ambition when he had the opportunity of applying the ‘Wike Style’,” they said.
Other groups involved in the statement are Peter Obi Support Movement (POSM), Women for Peter Obi Alliance (W4POA), Obidient Abia Youths Forum (OAYF), Abia Obidients Vanguard (AOV), Peter Obi National Movement (PONAM), Abia Obidients Students Forum (AOSF), Abia Obidient Traders Association (AOTC) and Abia Obidients Youth Alliance (AOYA).
