2023: Obi’ll Be President, Says Party Leader
Edith CHUKU
Ahead of the forthcoming 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, Labour Party leader in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr. John Elijah Dimkpa, has charged supporters of Peter Obi to remain resolute, assuring them that Obi will emerge victorious.
Dimkpa gave this charge while reacting to the issue of low turn-out of supporters to campaigns organized recently by the party, for the presidential candidate.
One of such scantiness was experienced at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt on Thursday, December 22, 2022, when Obi, his wife Margaret and several stalwarts of the party and presidential campaign council came for a rally in the state.
The likes of the musical duo of Peter and Paul popularly called P-Square were present to entertain the crowd, but were disappointed, as just a few attended the rally.
Many have blamed the low turnout on the ‘we no dey give shishi’ ideology of the Labour Party, warning that hunger could make the electorate vote against their conscience.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNN, Dimkpa said “I strongly believe, without mincing words, that Peter Obi will emerge victorious come 2023 presidential elections without prejudice.
“Talking about the low turnout of people in his rallies within the past few weeks, that can be linked to wrong timing of the campaign. The entire low turnout is because campaigns happened within and during the festive period. When the rally was organized in Port Harcourt, that was a peak period for the yuletide season preparation and people were busy with travel arrangements while many others had already traveled to their various home states.
“In my opinion, I would rather prefer a few legitimate voters who on their own turn up genuinely, rather than those hired crowds of the APC and the PDP who will still vote for Peter Obi in failure of the other two top tier parties giving them money.
“Furtherance to my assertion, I will also say that the two other top tier political parties knowing that the Peter Obi presidential ticket has changed the political serenity and landscape as witnessed in the Nigerian elections in the past, are left with no option of being in awe and weary of the fact that they are fast loosen grip of their relevance and Mamore crowd of supporters unless they paid heavily, that’s why they have vowed in deploying different antics and strategies in making the people feel unsafe gathering in political rallies other than the ones organised by their own parties in their respective states under their control, by promulgating and invoking various riot acts, instead of creating an all level playing field for all political parties as empowered by the constitution of Nigeria. Such act has made it difficult and uneasy for genuine lovers and supporters of Peter Obi to come out fully en mass.
Let me state it here categorically that in all of their antics deployed, many of us are not moved and threatened by their cheap ploy of discouraging us from political participation because it’s a civil right enshrined in the constitution, as we have resolved to vote and mobilise for Obi/Datti in order for us to retrieve back our country from the hands of our oppressors.”
