‘We Would Have Loved Obasanjo’s Endorsement For Atiku But We Don’t Begrudge Peter Obi’

A spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council and Commissioner of Information in Delta State, Charles Aniagwu, has admitted it would have appreciated former President Olusegun Obasanjo endorsing Atiku Abubakar.

Speaking on AIT, Aniagwu, however, stated that the party would not begrudge the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi, over his endorsement.

While stating the PDP would have loved Obasanjo to endorse and support Atiku Abubakar like he did in 2019, the PDP spokesperson said Obi’s endorsement would buoy the party to intensify engagements with relevant stakeholders across the country.

According to him, the main opposition party is comfortable with the numerous endorsements from Nigerians across the country.

He said: “Obasanjo is one leader that enjoys respect across the country but the party is quite happy with the endorsements it has received from Nigerians which could be seen from the different rallies held thus far.

“We have organic convergence of Nigerians in all our rallies and at the end of the day their vote is what matters more than any other thing.

“We would have loved to have Obasanjo’s endorsement just like he did in 2019 when he endorsed and supported Atiku Abubakar because he believed that he had what it takes to take Nigeria out of the current situation.

“Democracy allows you the latitude to make choices and he has made his own choice and we do believe that most Nigerians are already making their own choices and from what we have seen Atiku is already favoured to win this election.

“We don’t have any problem with Obasanjo endorsing anybody because that is his democratic right and you can’t take it away from him but Nigerians at the end of the day will make the ultimate choice of who governs them for the purpose of recovering Nigeria from where we are at the moment.”

He stated that Atiku, his running mate Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and the party’s presidential campaign council are not ruffled over the endorsement.

Aniagwu said: “In this contest, nobody is an underdog and we do have respect for all candidates contesting this election but we do believe that we stand taller than any of the contestants.

“We are convinced that Nigerians would likely look in our direction because our presidential candidate and his running mate have got the credentials to be able to position our country and recover it from where we are at the moment.

“So if a former President under the PDP has decided to pitch his tent with another person is not something that will ruffle us, it will only strengthen us to further deepen our interface with Nigerians for them to understand that where we are headed that Atiku-Okowa are the only ones that have what it takes to lead Nigeria out of the woods”.

The presidential campaign spokesman said he was happy that Obasanjo in endorsing Atiku in 2019 made it very clear that Atiku has got the experience and described him as “the President for the time.