Labor party accuses APC of religious and tribal politics

The Labor Party Presidential Campaign Council has accused the All Progressives Council (APC) of running a religious organization on behalf of a political party.

Campaign council spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo made the accusation while speaking during a Twitter space hosted by the CIIR, on Monday, January 30.

Criticizing the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential bid, Okonkwo noted that any party that does not recognize the diversity of the country will cause instability.

He stressed that the Labor Party is trying to prevent war in Nigeria by lobbying for the presidency of Peter Obi.

“Any party that does not recognize our diversity is going to bring instability. Have you not heard some clerics say that they are going to Jihad to support the Muslim-Muslim candidacy? That is war. And that is what we are trying to avoid when we said to bring the ticket from the same destination in Nigeria with what we know is not going to help us. Many Muslims are against it.

“Can you imagine at a party, you have the president of the Senate, Muslim Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muslim. Vice President of the Chamber, Muslim. Presidential candidate, Muslim, Vice Presidential candidate, Muslim, even National Party Chairman. At a time when we have a Muslim Chief Justice of the Federation. So what kind of party is that?

“It is even against our Constitution. It goes against article 14, paragraph 34 of the Constitution. It is against Section 15, subsection 1, subsection 2, subsection 3(d) and subsection 4 of the Constitution. You cannot have a party and give it the appearance that it is a religious or ethnic party.”

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Speaking about the structure of the Labor Party, Okonkwo further emphasized that the south-east and south-south are for Obi, adding that he will share the south-west with APC presidential candidate Tinubu.

According to him, 90 percent of Nigerian Christians will vote for Obi because of the Muslim-Muslim formula.

“Like it or not, 90 percent of Christians in Nigeria are doing Obi. And the reason is that they don’t want the Muslim-Muslim ticket. I tell you those Christians would still have voted against the Christian-Christian candidacy, it’s not about religion. It is another fact that we are a divided nation.”

He stressed that Obi’s structure had already existed since 2019 and noted that it is strong and firm.

Suggesting that Obi is the third force sought by Nigerians, Okonkwo added: “When this movement started, it was before Obi entered the Labor Party. Since 2019, Nigerians have been unanimous that the major political parties have failed. They lost trust in the main political parties and they wanted a third force, but who is going to be a symbol of this third force?