A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has said former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, left the ADC quietly because he knew he had little chance against former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, in the party’s presidential primary.
NewsWatch Nigeria reports that Momodu described Obi’s withdrawal and defection from the ADC as a calculated and respectful move.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV, he claimed Obi stepped aside after considering Atiku’s political strength and nationwide network.
Momodu said Obi did not deceive himself about his chances against Atiku, whom he described as Obi’s former political ally.
He stated, “That is why Peter Obi left quietly; he knew that in a race against Atiku, he had no chance. That’s why he left, and that’s more honourable.
“You know, he didn’t deceive himself that he could beat his former boss, in inverted commas.”
Momodu also dismissed allegations of irregularities raised by former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and businessman, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, over the ADC presidential primary.
He insisted that the exercise was properly conducted and peacefully monitored across the country.
Momodu further stated, “I can’t speak for both of them. I don’t know what they saw. I personally monitored a lot of the states yesterday.
“I was monitoring that election throughout yesterday; I didn’t go anywhere. And we were getting feedback from the field, and I can tell you, I even posted a lot of the videos; it was well conducted, peacefully conducted.”
APC Figures Exaggerated – Momodu
Momodu also criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) over its reported membership and voting figures during its own primary.
He described the figures as unrealistic and accused the ruling party of exaggeration.
“For anybody to say you are accredited and nearly 11 million people voted on a single day, and you counted it immediately? Even INEC could not have achieved that in one week.
“And then, what is the population of those in APC? Of course, what they did was an exaggeration. It was a big exaggeration, and it was very shameful and disgraceful that a party in broad daylight would show how they were conducting their primary and jumping from 1,000 to 2,000 before our very eyes,” he added.
