A former All Progressives Congress presidential hopeful, Adamu Garba, has told Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to resign APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu before the upcoming 2023 presidential election.
Garba said this in a tweet on Thursday night, following images circulating on social media of Obi’s rally in Port Harcourt with the place half full.
The APC chief further accused Obi of isolating the south-east in the center, describing Obi’s Port Harcourt rally as disappointing.
Garba tweeted: “Peter Obi’s disappointing rally at Port Harcourt today should serve as a perfect breakfast for his aspirational.
“You must step down immediately and endorse the really, truly prepared presidential candidate; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and stop isolating the southeast from the center,” Garba said.
In July 2022, Garba rejoined the APC after leaving acrimoniously to join the Young Progressives Party, a party he created.
Garba, who withdrew from the APC presidential race after raising N83 million, criticized the party for setting the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms at N100 million.
The politician had told The PUNCH in an exclusive interview that he left the APC because the party leadership was pushing anti-democratic policies that seek to exclude young people and people with progressive ideology from inclusive politics.
He said: “What informed my decision were certain steps that the party had taken over time that appear to betray the principles of democracy. A situation where people went to a convention and it turned out to be an enthronement.
“At the same time, the youth of the party are completely alienated. The more you bring new ideas, new solutions and suggest changes, the more you are perceived as an enemy and someone who should be thrown out the window.
“The other reason is the excessive monetization of the political process system. It is a threat to our future as youth. We have ‘monetized’ everything from healthcare to education to roads and even the office that is supposed to deliver the goods. That’s something that made me conclude that the party doesn’t really represent the future.”
But two months after jumping ship, a remorseful Garba took to his official Twitter account to announce his return to the ruling party.
Defending his reason for returning to the APC, he stated that it would do Nigeria more harm if he does not support the combination of a “great strategist and a great tactician” on one ticket.
His tweet read: “Yes, I am fully back at APC. I could do more damage to my country Nigeria if I didn’t support a combination of a great strategist and a great tactician in one ticket.
“It is BAT/Hashim who should take over all the voting units in Nigeria by 2023. It is not entirely about not having a competent Christian in the north, there are, in fact, many of them.”
“But how many of those competent ones are able to build some political capital beyond their immediate environment? Name? Politics is very practical, it is not about whims”.
