Abdulrasheed Shehu, a close aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said the idea of a merger or partnership with Labor Party (LP) 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi remains a possibility.
Naija New reports that Atiku and Peter Obi have reignited discussions over the possibility of the two coming together to contest the 2027 presidential election after a meeting in Yola on Saturday.
Obi was the keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Atiku-owned American University of Nigeria (AUN).
Spokespeople for both politicians denied that the invitation had any political motive, but social media was abuzz, especially after Atiku posted a video of his breakfast meeting with Peter Obi at his home in Yola. .
However, there is speculation that the meeting was part of preparations for the 2027 presidential election, as the crisis within the Labor Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shows no signs of resolving.
X user Teo Agada said: “Please repeat your 2019 ticket and promise to last one term. Then watch Nigerians do what they do.”
Quoting Atiku’s tweet, LP’s Lagos State gubernatorial candidate in the last election, Gbadebo Rose Vivour, said, “We all must form a coalition of opposition parties to end this T-pain remix that is being featured. “No,” he wrote, referring to the current difficult situation. country. “
Doyin Okupe, who was Peter Obi’s campaign director but recently switched allegiance to President Bola Tinubu, offered a different perspective in a post through his handle X.
“Politically naive, ignorant and bigoted people have always insulted me when I say politics is a game, not a religion. There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, no permanent enemies. Interesting times will come. From now on, we will move from consumption to absorption. The debate is over!
However, Abdulrasheed Shehu clarified in an interview with Daily Trust that there was no discussion of the 2027 elections or merger during Saturday’s meeting between Peter Obi and Atiku.
He said both politicians would clarify their positions on the potential merger at the appropriate time.
“Around 2027, we didn’t have any conversations. We just welcomed Obi to Yola and had breakfast with him, and then we went to AUN together, where Obi gave a powerful lecture,” he said. But as you know, after the 2023 general elections, it is Oga (Atiku) who initiated the call for a coalition of opposition leaders to defeat APC in the next elections. When the time comes, their position will become clear. ”
