Former presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s camp has lampooned assertions that he betrayed former Biafran leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu by decamping from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the party that brought him to political prominence.
Chief spokesman of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, Yunusa Tanko defended his principal after the leadership of Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) accused Obi, who served as Anambra governor, and Rochas Okorocha, who served as Imo governor, of betraying the late leader of the party by defecting from APGA, on whose platform they won elections in their respective states.
The separatist group had called Obi a “betrayer” for daring to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a few months after Ojukwu’s demise despite the role the late warlord played in his emergence as Anambra governor.
Tanko said it was not right to call Obi names for joining a party with a nationalistic appeal.
, “Obi is not a betrayer at all. In fact, BIM-MASSOB should be happy that Obi is a product of APGA that is now sellable to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“On a second thought, I think this particular case MASSOB cited happened when they were all in APGA before 2011. As a nationalist, I was not in APGA but privileged to have followed the proceedings there.
“Peter Obi, in this regard, was thinking of a nationalist political party. I don’t see any wrong in that. For someone who wants to aspire to lead this country, he must be forward-thinking.
“But APGA has remained a regional party that has refused to spread its tentacles around the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“If you want to move yourself to the national level, you must look for a political party that is nationalistic in view. I think Peter Obi was strategic in choosing the Labour Party considering the fact that it represents the interest of all Nigerian workers, which cuts across ethnic groups and religious lines.
“Thirdly, whether there were funds spent individually or collectively when they were in APGA, we don’t know. It could be true and it might turn out to be false. There may also be a reason why Obi said he didn’t spend money the way politicians are doing now to reclaim his governorship mandate,” Tanko told The Punch.