Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has explained why the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, cannot win the 2023 election, citing lack of integrity.
He also rated the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, higher than Atiku Abubakar, describing the latter as the “weakest link” among the leading presidential candidates for the 2023 election.
According to Oshiomhole who spoke on Wednesday night on Channels Television, Atiku cannot defeat Tinubu, who’s the leading candidate because five governors in his party have damaged his integrity.
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Recall Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State are members of the ‘Integrity Group’ demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, as the PDP National Chairman.
Atiku has rejected the idea while Ayu has insisted on completing his 4-year term.
The group has been joined by notable figures in the PDP such as former state governors of Ekiti (Ayo Fayose), Gombe (Ibrahim Dankwambo), Ondo (Segun Mimiko), Cross River (Donald Duke) as well as former ministers, lawmakers among others.
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan has also withheld his support for Atiku despite being in the same party.
Oshiomhole pointed out that the crisis in the party has done irreparable damage to Atiku, noting that, the “PDP is a house divided against itself and the real damage being done to the reputation of the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is that governors, not unknown quantities, who had never decamped from PDP, who could be called PDP indigenes, they have spoken to the fact that you cannot trust the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and therefore they withdrew from the campaign council.”
The former APC National Chairman further said, ““If five people have reasons to question the character of Atiku Abubakar that you can’t trust his words, that he can’t even manage his own party and can’t grant concessions, he is so fixated about certain things.”
He accused Atiku of lacking the quality of a leader that can unite the country.
He said, “He is totally insensitive to project Nigeria — the need to keep Nigeria together. It is not difficult to see why Atiku cannot win
“Atiku is battle weary, he has nothing new to say. He will sell everything. Once he said he will sell NNPC, people say that was the way he sold NITEL. What became of NITEL?
“It is just that at this point, it is hard for a man to say I throw in the towel in the middle of the game so he will rather patch it up.
“He is the weakest link right now among the three leading candidates,” Oshiomhole added.
He said Atiku cannot be trusted adding that, “His governors said we can’t trust him, those who are leaders of his party, five of them, every agreement we made with him, he broke it, he is a serial betrayer of agreements.
“When he is seeking power as an applicant, he does not respect agreements, when he gets the job as a commander in chief of the armed forces what string do you have to pull?”
Apart from Atiku, Bola Tinubu of the APC and Obi of Labour Party are believed to be the leading candidates.
Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, is also one of the leading contenders for the 2023 presidential election which holds in February.