18th February, 2023
By Diana Omueza
The presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu, has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted him to join forces with Peter Obi, his counterpart in Labour Party after he emerged the flag bearer of his own party.
Kachikwu made the revelation while refusing claim that he had endorsed Obi ahead of the next Saturday’s presidential election at a news conference on Friday in Abuja
“Several months ago, in the aftermath of my emergence as the Presidential Candidate of the party, President Olusegun Obasanjo sent for me.
“In that meeting what he said to me was that having listened to my speech at the party primaries, he now believed that there are two candidates on the race that he should watch for.
“And that he would like me to look at how I and the Labour candidate can work together or rub our races and at the appropriate time we would see what happens.
“For him what was important was doing everything possible to ensure the unity of Nigeria and ensuring that Nigeria continues as a united country, but my response then still remains my response now,” he said.
Kachikwu insisted that he is determined to stay in the presidential race till the day of the election.
“I’m in this race to the end and if anyone expects that they would hear me before the elections say that I as a candidate am endorsing, I’m aligning or I’m pushing for another candidate, those persons are making a solid mistake,” he said
Kachikwu said that there was no difference between Obi, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu.
“I believe there is no difference between Labour Candidate Peter Obi, because he represents no difference from either Bola Tinubu or Atiku Abubakar.
“Peter Obi has been in office as a governor for eight years, having been governor of a state for eight years, that state happens to be one of the hot beds of the problems of the Southeast today.
“And its people seem to be leaving Nigeria believing that Nigeria has nothing for them, so I believe that if Anambra had worked and if Obi had performed in Anambra that place would have been a place where the Igbos would rally around.
“A place they would go to and use as a building point for the rest of the Southeast,” he said.