An ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said that the northern Christians are in support of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Speaking at an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, he said Obi had more chances of winning the election than the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
Asked why he chose to endorse the LP presidential candidate, the APC chieftain said a government by the duo of Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed would give Nigeria its desired peace.
“We are politicians and realists. We want to support a political party that has the potential to win and rule; then address all the other dynamics in society, like marginalisation, insecurity, and inclusiveness.
He spoke just as a group coordinated by him adopted Obi as its preferred candidate for 2023 poll.
In a statement in Abuja, Lawal said the group comprising some northern christian politicians settled for Obi after a painstaking review and analysis of the alternative presidential ticket holders.
Besides endorsing Obi and his running mate, Mr. Ahmed Datti, the group recommended LP candidates to Nigerians, saying they would ensure justice, equity, fairness and unity of the country.
“As one of the foremost critics of APC’s single-faith presidential ticket and also in deference to those who have patiently waited for our guidance as to where to pitch our tent, after a painstaking review and analysis of the alternative presidential tickets, we now wish to recommend the Obi/Datti presidential ticket.
“We wish to briefly narrate some few reasons among many, why we have endorsed this ticket and recommend it to all Nigerians of good conscience who desire justice, equity and a harmonious co-existence of all Nigerians across tribes, religion and geopolitical regions.
“It is an indisputable fact that the whole of Northern Nigeria is currently mired in several intractable socio-economic problems, due to the activities of several nebulous criminal groups.
“Agriculture, the mainstay of the northern economy, is all but abandoned because kidnappers and bandits have prevented people from venturing out of the safety of their homes.”
Lawal also decried the lack of safety in interstate and intercity travels for either business or leisure. He said this was not only due to un-motorable roads but for fear of attacks by criminals such as kidnappers, armed robbery and bandits.
“In our quest for justice and equity in the socio-political and religious space of the country, it is obvious that only the Obi/Datti ticket has the potential to deliver.”
He said that the Obi/Datti ticket can speak on the genuine clamour for power shift to the South-East as well as the cry of marginalisation by people of the South-East.
