A spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, has said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is seeking third term by proxy.
Bwala stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
In a letter titled “My appeal to all Nigerians particularly Young Nigerians” as part of his new year message to Nigerians, Obasanjo had openly endorsed the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, ahead of the February presidential election.
The former president argued that none of the presidential candidates is a saint, but when compared in terms of knowledge, discipline and what they can offer, Obi has an edge.
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However, commenting on the development, Bwala said, “There are a number things in Obasanjo’s letter that cannot be argued like his assertions on the APC that the last seven years was a perilous time or it was a period that no Nigerian will wish a repeat of.
“This is one of the reasons I believe that Nigerians will not vote for APC in this election. He is right on that.
“But the part that he is wrong which can be summarized in the fourth to the last paragraph in that letter, where he referred to Peter Obi as a needle that has a string, where he said that he can easily be controlled when goes wrong. That is the crux of his letter.
“Obasanjo is in search of a third term by proxy. In other words, what he is saying is that Peter Obi is a puppet and he should be voted for, guaranteeing Nigerians that he will control him.”
But responding to Bwala, a spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, said that Obasanjo endorsed Obi because he is a man that can embark on legal and institutional reform if elected president.
He said, “Obasanjo endorsed Peter Obi because he is a man that can embark on legal and institutional reform to aggressively fight corruption and entrench rule of law, reduce cost of governance and ensure the establishment of honest and efficient civil service. And Obasanjo knows that a man with such qualities cannot be a puppet.”
