The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has denied reports suggesting he is in talks with former President Goodluck Jonathan to form a political alliance ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Obi’s media aide and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH, stating that there is no agreement or arrangement between the two leaders aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “My principal and the former president have a very good working relationship and they know each other very well. So, seeing them talk to each other does not mean anything. It should not be translated to mean anything other than a platonic discussion on how to move this country forward.
“But I don’t think there’s anything more than that. No discussion or pact around 2027. Even when they met in Ghana, I was there. So, there was nothing like that.”
Recall that the duo had met in September, when Obi stated that they had a fruitful meeting and discussed the state of the nation.
“Today in Abuja, I met with my very dear elder brother, statesman, and leader, former President Goodluck Jonathan. We had a fruitful closed-door meeting and discussed the state of our dear nation,” Obi had written.
In recent weeks, however, there have been renewed calls for Jonathan to contest the presidency again after losing his re-election bid in 2015. These calls have come from several groups and a close ally.
The ally, who is also a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), told Vanguard in August that plans to draft the former president to contest on the PDP platform had reached an advanced stage, adding that Jonathan had accepted to run, with the aim of addressing Nigeria’s rising poverty, hardship, and widespread suffering in recent years.
