Dumebi Kachikwu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for president, has spoken out about how former president Olusegun Obasanjo urged him to endorse Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate, in the 2023 election.
Kachikwu denied supporting Peter Obi in a statement during a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
Kachikwu.
“I am not out of the race, I’m running this race until the finish, and if someone anticipates that they would hear me declare before the elections that I as a candidate am endorsing, I’m aligning or I’m pushing for another candidate, then folks is making a solid error,” he stated.
Kachikwu claimed that Obasanjo had asked him to collaborate with Obi but that he had refused the offer.
“President Olusegun Obasanjo sent for me a few months ago after I became the party’s presidential candidate.
“At that discussion, he told me that after hearing my speech at the party primaries, he now thought there were two people in the race who he should keep an eye out for.
“And that he would like me to consider how the Labour candidate and I can cooperate or rub shoulders, and at the proper moment, we would see what happens,” he continued.
“For him, what was crucial was doing everything necessary to ensure the unity of Nigeria and that Nigeria stays as a single country, but my response then still remains my response now,” he added.
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According to Kachikwu, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Obi are all equal candidates.
“I don’t think there is a difference between Peter Obi, the Labour candidate, and Bola Tinubu or Atiku Abubakar.
“Peter Obi has served as governor of a state for eight years, and during that time, he has presided over one of the South East’s most troubled states.
“And its people appear to be leaving Nigeria under the impression that there is nothing there for them, therefore I think that if Anambra had succeeded and if Obi had given a performance there, the Igbos would have rallied behind that area.
“A spot they would go to and use as a building point for the remainder of the South East,” he stated.
