The Labour Party has denied claims in some quarters that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, does not have the support of his former cabinet members and had not mentored any person in his (obi) political career.
Arabambi stated this in reaction to the recent statement by the presidential spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, Festus Keyamo.
Keyamo had challenged Obi to produce the names of people he had mentored in politics, as part of the reasons why the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would not be sharing the same podium with him at the Arise TV presidential debate on Sunday.
Responding to Keyamo, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi told Suuday PUNCH that Obi’s influence cut across party affiliations in his state, the South-East, and the country.
The LP Publicity Secretary also said that the fact that some of the former commissioners of the Obi were not part of the LP did not connote that he (Obi) did not have robust political support.
Arabambi noted that Obi had the needed “track record” and “political capital” to win votes in Anambra, and the South-East in general.
Arabambi said, “I am not conversant with those who worked with him as governor, but I know that he is a man that has the capability to run an all-inclusive government.
“He has the wherewithal and the political arsenal to win not only Anambra, the South-East, but the whole of Nigeria in the forthcoming elections.
“I know Obaze Oseluka was his former commissioner, and he is in the LP at the moment, just like he was with him in the PDP. Probably some of his former commissioners are in APGA, and the PDP, where he came to join the Labour Party.”
Former aides react
Meanwhile, some of Obi’s former aides, who worked with the LP presidential candidate while he was the governor of Anambra State, said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, they were backing Obi’s presidential bid.
A former Chief of Staff to the Anambra State governor in 2006, Chuks Iloegbunam, said former commissioners and aides of Obi were supporting his presidential bid in various capacities.
Iloegbunam said that the nature of political mentorship differs from the unethical political practices that had become the norm in the country.
He said, “It depends on the roles they (commissioners) are playing. Some of them are in grassroots promotion. Peter Obi’s campaign is not being run by the Obidient movement.
“We (the commissioners) were with him when his mandate was stolen, and we were meeting almost every week for three years before we went to the Government House.
“There are a lot of people who are supporting him but are not members of his campaign. In fact, Peter Obi’s right-hand man in his presidential campaign; Mr Oseluka Obaze, was the Secretary to the State Government when he was governor of Anambra State.”
“The likes of Dr Michael Egbebike (ex-commissioner for Environment), and Dr Stella Okunna (Information and Culture and later chief of staff), are all in this movement campaigning for him.”
In a similar vein, Prof Stella Okunna, told our correspondent in a telephone interview on Thursday that all the former commissioners who worked with Obi in his previous administration were playing critical roles in Obi’s campaign.
