By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the recently concluded 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, says he is under a lot of pressure to leave the country with his family following the outcome of the presidential polls.
He, however, said despite such pressure, he remains committed on retrieving the mandate given to him freely by Nigerians from the court and will never at any point succumb to the pressure to ditch his followers and ‘flee’ Nigeria.
Obi disclosed this in a 13-paragraph statement endorsed by Dr. Tanko Yunusa, Chief Spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP)’s Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, and issued to journalists on Wednesday.
He said in the past few weeks, the former Anambra governor have been contacted by associates, elder statesmen, family and friends with concerns for his personal safety.
“These concerns have increased intensely in the last few days as immense pressure, has been mounted directly on Mr. Obi to leave the country, no doubt from sources allied to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its agents in the security services,” Yunusa said.
He noted that Mr. Obi has been repeatedly and categorically told that he has a choice to leave the country or face the prospect of being arrested on false charges of inciting insurrection in the country.
“As part of the grand design, they are circulating a fake doctored audio call. At no time throughout the campaign and now did Mr. Obi ever say, think or even imply that the 2023 election is or was a religious war. It is very sad and wicked the attempts to manipulate Nigerians,” he added.
The LP campaign spokesperson revealed that there are many more campaigns of calumny against Mr. Obi planned for the near future, both before and during the court process.
“However, we want to make it clear to the APC party, APC led-government and its agents that Mr Peter Obi a widely traveled man has no intention to leave the country at this time irrespective of the pressure on him and his family.
“He (Obi) is determined as he had stated in his first and only press conference after the election to challenge the outcome of the election and the process has begun. It is his fundamental right!”.
Yunusa called on Nigerians and the International Community to caution the APC to stop their attacks, noting, ”Mr. Obi’s focus and commitment to lawfully and peacefully retrieve our mandate to secure and unite our Nation, take Nigeria from consumption to production, pull millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty especially in the North and jumpstart prosperity through agricultural, industrial and technological revolution remains unchanged.”
According to the Labour Party, Obi has continued to impress upon his supporters of the essence of the legal process and will not now or in the future encourage any violence against the state.
“Elections are over, and we are in court to retrieve our stolen mandate. Let me reiterate that we are doing so through all lawful and peaceful options in line with our legal system and constitution, and I continue to implore all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law abiding,” the statement added.
