Simon Okeke, former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), has appealed to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to support Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), as the flagbearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Tuesday, Okeke acknowledged that Obi, like every human being, is not perfect and may have areas where he falls short.
He, however, described the former governor of Anambra as the most nationally acceptable presidential aspirant in Nigeria’s political history.
“Nonetheless, among all the presidential aspirants today, he is the most acceptable nationwide. At no time in the political history of Nigeria… has any candidate from any part of Nigeria enjoyed such a universal nationwide acceptance,” the statement reads.
He said Abubakar has an opportunity to reciprocate the support he enjoyed from the south-east during his previous presidential bids, including the 2023 elections.
Okeke urged the former vice-president to step aside and throw his weight behind Obi, citing the political convention that the presidency should rotate to the south.
“One would expect that 2027 contest will give Alhaji Atiku a good opportunity to reciprocate the same support he has progressively received from the South East by him not only withdrawing from the contest which by convention is for Southern candidates to serve out balance of term of 4 years, but to throw his weight behind Peter Obi,” he said.
“Failure to do this will portray him to be opposite of what we thought he is – a true friend of Ndigbo. He needs to show appreciation of our South East support for his several presidential bids.”
The former PSC chairman also appealed to northerners and south westerners to support Obi’s candidacy on grounds of equity and justice.
He added that an Obi presidency would help “put the burden of the Nigeria-Biafra war behind us permanently.”
