2023: Obi’s endorsement by Obasanjo empty, lacks substance – SWAGA

 

The South West Agenda (SWAGA), a support group rooting for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, has dismissed the endorsement of Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

The national Chairman of SWAGA, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, who spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital on Tuesday during a party organized for members of the campaign group in Ekiti, Ondo, Kogi and other states, said the victory of the former governor of Lagos state won’t be affected by the decision of the former president.

Adeyeye, who explained that Tinubu’s track record and contributions to nation building in the last three decades would work in his favor above other contenders, promised that SWAGA would deliver 14 million votes in the South West for the APC candidate.

Dismissing the endorsement of the Labour Party candidate, the APC chieftain, who is the director of support groups in the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), stated that former president Obasanjo has the right to support whoever he wants but added that his endorsement won’t have impact on the outcome of the election come February 25.

According to him, “The endorsement of the Labour Party candidate will have absolutely no negative impact on the election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; we are in the south West here and we know the politics of the region.

"Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has the right to endorse any candidate, and it is also our constitutional right to support and canvass for whoever we like. I can tell you that the people of South West, even the people of Egba land where Obasanjo comes from, will vote massively for Tinubu and he will win.

“Don’t forget as SWAGA, we have promised to deliver 14 million votes, we have not changed our mind on this important promise and we have been working towards fulfilling it , even more than that figure. There is no reason that anybody will not support him because he has done well for the country by fighting for the democracy we are all enjoying today.

“We have met over 300 traditional rulers in Yoruba land, and the candidate himself has done that too and all of them have endorsed him. Afenifere has endorsed him including all Yoruba leaders, I don’t think what Obasanjo has done will have any impact on the chances of Bola Tinubu in the forthcoming election.”

On the issues raised by Obasanjo in his letter regarding the capacity and competence of other presidential candidates, Adeyeye said that Tinubu has proved to be prepared for the task of rebuilding the nation with his practicable action plan different from his other contenders.

“Talking about health, the health of a man is in the hands of God. Let me tell you that many of those who said President Muhammadu Buhari will die in 2015, many of those who said that have died. I don’t think we should play God concerning the health of individuals.

"Who is more hardworking than Tinubu as we approach the election ? None of the candidates. You can see he is meeting critical stakeholders day and night. You can be engrossed in rumours and speculation, I can say this man is fit and competent to be the president of our nation.

“I think President Obasanjo will continue to raise issues. Nobody will ever be good in the eyes of the former president, even if Obafemi Awolowo was to be the president, he will see reasons to criticize him. In his eyes, nobody is good and better than him,” he said.

On his part, a former member of the House of Representatives, Oyetunde Ojo revealed that SWAGA would continue to work and mobilize for the presidential ambition of Tinubu ahead of the election, noting that the group would not be distracted by the antics of the opposition.

Ojo said, “That Obasanjo’s endorsement is one man’s opinion which is not the whole country’s opinion. He won’t take the majority opinion of Nigerians who are ready to vote Tinubu for the overall good of the nation.

“We have been on the field as a group canvassing for Tinubu and we will work till the last minute in February because our principal didn’t believe in laziness, he is everywhere talking to the people.”