The candidate of the Labour Party for the Oyi constituency in Anambra State House of Assembly, Obinna Okafor, said he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party because it did not treat the South-East region well.
Okafor said PDP abandoned the zoning arrangement started by the party since 1999.
He stated this on Monday during the New Yam Festival of his community, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area, Anambra State.
According to him, despite the fact that the South-East always voted for the PDP at every election, the party has not been fair to the region since its inception.
Okafor said, “The South-East has been voting PDP massively right from 1999, till date, but it has not treated the region well. No region has voted PDP more than the South-East.
“The only time we believed it was our time was when late Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, contested for the Presidency but it was given to Olusegun Obasanjo, to appease the South West because of the death of MKO Abiola. Now it should be the turn of the South-East. Some of us who are progressives, left PDP because of this, to Labour Party.”
Speaking on the PDP internal crisis, he said it was not possible for one to build a house for another person to occupy.
He said, “In 2015, the likes of Aminu Tambuwa, Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, Rotimi Amaechi, among others, left us in PDP for All Progressives Congress, to be with President Mohammadu Buhari, and that is what we are suffering today.
“We had Nyesom Wike, who stood his ground and uplifted the PDP financially, morally and get the party to where it is today. If there is anything like inheritance, Wike should inherit the presidential ticket of the PDP and not Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Should Wike be the presidential candidate of PDP? Yes.”
Okafor stated that the North, through the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rerd.), is about rounding up for the South to take over.
“Why should the PDP bring out Atiku, another Muslim Northerner, in a circular state like Nigeria?” he queried.
The LP candidate, who hinted that he has three political beliefs that will better the welfare of his people, stated that if the presidency still goes back to the North in 2023, “Then you don’t want the unity of the country”.
He listed his three political beliefs to include, politics of engagement of people in all he does, public fund for the public and quality representation, adding that the only constant thing in life is change, “from where we share money to where we engage people, ‘Obidient”.
