According to Abdulmumin Jibrin, the suggested coalition between Rabiu Kwankwaso and Peter Obi is the only way to satisfy the demand for a president of south-eastern extraction.
In an effort to unseat the two major political parties, the candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Labour Party (LP) are now considering the possibility of forming a partnership for the 2023 presidential election.
Obi is the LP’s standard-bearer, and Kwankwaso is the NNPP’s.
The pick of Kwankwaso and Obi as the presidential nominee and vice presidential running mate has dominated the negotiations.
Jibrin claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were unfair to the south-east in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday.
The best possibility they currently have is an alliance with the NNPP, he added, adding that Obi being Kwankwaso’s running partner is the south-best east’s chance to lead the nation.
Jibrin stated that for the geopolitical zone to support Kwankwaso being the president in the 2023 election, power must return to the south-east.
“The south-east has been extremely treated badly by the APC and the PDP. For anyone in the south-east, they should be able to see that they don’t have a future in the APC or in the PDP,” he said.
“As members of the Labour Party, they should see that the party as it is today cannot propel Peter Obi to the presidency. The only opportunity that they have and which we are offering them is to come [and] do an alliance with NNPP.
“The hope it gives to the south-east, which is a tentative hope, is that since the era of Vice-President [Alex] Ekweme, the south-east has never been on the table to discuss the presidency, in real term.
“This is the first time they will sit on the table with the NNPP to discuss, sign a concrete agreement that after Kwankwaso, it’s going to be the south-eastern part of the country.
“The fact is that — does Labour Party have a state? No, they don’t even have. I’m speaking from my own point of view that one of the safest routes for them is to go into alliance with NNPP, for Peter Obi to run as a running mate and after that, the power can go back to the south east.”
