2023:Oshiomhole Mocks PDP, Says Atiku Weakest Among Top Candidates

Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, claims that Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president, is the “weakest link” among the front-runners in the 2023 election.

Oshiomhole, who spoke during an interview with Channels Television.

He claimed that Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate and Peter Obi of the Labour Party are the front-runners for the presidency.

Due to the conflict between the party and five of its governors known as the “Integrity Group,” the former national chairman of the APC claimed that the PDP, the major opposition, is a “house split against itself.”

He claimed Tinubu will triumph in the 2023 presidential election since Atiku’s reputation had suffered “some damage” as a result of the five governors.

According to him, “PDP is a house divided against itself and the real damage being done to the reputation of the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is those governors, not unknown quantities, who had never decamped from PDP, who could be called PDP indigenes, they have spoken to the fact that you cannot trust the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and therefore they withdrew from the campaign council.

“If five people have reasons to question the character of Atiku Abubakar that you can’t trust his words, that he can’t even manage his own party and can’t grant concessions, he is so fixated about certain things.

“He is totally insensitive to project Nigeria — the need to keep Nigeria together. It is not difficult to see why Atiku cannot win.

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“Atiku is battle weary, he has nothing new to say. He will sell everything. Once he said he will sell NNPC, people say that was the way he sold NITEL. What became of NITEL? It is just that at this point, it is hard for a man to say I throw in the towel in the middle of the game so he will rather patch it up. He is the weakest link right now among the three leading candidates.

“His governors said we can’t trust him, those who are leaders of his party, five of them, every agreement we made with him, he broke it, he is a serial betrayer of agreements. When he is seeking power as an applicant, he does not respect agreements, when he gets the job as a commander in chief of the armed forces what string do you have to pull?”

Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a reprisal probably to make up of for the loss of five governors, popularly known as the G-5, presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is currently in talks with five governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign organization revealed the news to Leadership, yesterday, claiming that the APC governors who are close to Atiku have been discussing with him about how to support him.

The five APC governors are reportedly open to leaving the party because they think Atiku has a more credible platform and more relevant management expertise for Nigeria, according to the PDP campaign staff.

One of the spokesmen of the PDP campaign team and former national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, who gave the hint, said that the move is ongoing just as the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, believes he can attempt to leverage on the situation within the PDP where five governors have distanced themselves from the party’s presidential campaign activities unless the PDP national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu resigns, resigns and is replaced by a southerner.

However, the opposition party’s assertion was swiftly refuted by the APC, which labeled it wishful thinking and a sign that it does not have any preparations or a clear strategy for the impending general election.

Recall that five PDP governors, namely Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Seyi Makinde (Oyo) had repeatedly declared they won’t support Atiku’s campaign.

As of now, several of the G-5 governors appear to be leaning toward the APC, with Wike recently endorsing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, an APC candidate for governor.