By Adeyemi Adeleye
The Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party, Dr Ayo Olorunfemi, has advised the 2023 LP presidential candidate, Dr Peter Obi to ignore all calls to dump the party ahead of 2027 general election.
Olorunfemi, also the LP candidate in the 2024 Ondo governorship election, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos that Obi should rather focus on rebuilding the party .
NAN reports that there have been calls in some quarters on Obi to dump the party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
One of those making the calls, Mr Segun Sowunmi, a former PDP governorship candidate in Ogun, said during a television interview on Thursday that Obi’s return to his former party would brighten the chances of the PDP in 2027.
According to Sowunmi, Obi, who left the PDP for the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 Presidential election, owes much of his national political recognition to his time at PDP.
Olorunfemi, who noted that though Obi was at liberty under the law to associate with any political party of his choice, said he needed to be wary of what he called dangerous advances.
He said: “Now that he has contested and he has seen the LP force, if he decides to go to another political party, it will then speak volumes of his intention.
“It will tell whether he truly believed in the ideology of the Labour Party before coming to run, or he just wanted to use the opportunity of the platform.
“So, it will now be left for Nigerians to decide whether Obi, who got millions of votes under the Labour Party, can still be voted for under PDP or another party.
“He (Obi) must use his tongue to count his teeth. If I were he, what I would be doing now is working to restore peace in Labour Party and rebuild it.”
