PDP, LP alliance possible, Peter was in a rush, got scared and left – Atiku

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, disclosed that a PDP alliance with Labour Party (LP) is still possible, saying that the LP presidential candidate was in a hurry to leave the PDP, adding that Obi got scared of the PDP governors and left. Atiku maintained that he is open to an alliance presidential candidate with the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.

According to Atiku, “So, as far as I am concerned, Peter is welcome to dialogue with the PDP. We are ready to dialogue with him. I don’t think we will have a problem if he wants to dialogue with the PDP, whether for an alliance or not.”

Atiku emphasised that the departure of Obi from PDP to LP was “hasty” and not well-thought-out.

Atiku had declared: “At the time Peter decided to leave the PDP for the Labour Party, we had not really begun our primary process.

“So, the question of whether he was going to get a ticket or not did not arise.

“I think Peter was in a rush.

“Peter got scared and left. I did not get scared. I stood up against the governors.

“When we formed the PDP some of them were, perhaps, in secondary schools or the university. So, if he was there, nothing could have stopped him from becoming a running mate because I had the right to choose whoever I wanted to choose as my running mate.”

Atiku was of the view that Obi could not have won the presidential election relying just on southeast votes; he decried that Obi led the LP to take votes in PDP strongholds.

According to Atiku, “agreed; that it is a fact that he took our votes in the South-East and South-South and that of course would not make him a president. You all know that to be a president of this country, you all need votes from every part of the country.”

He asserted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed Nigerians in conducting the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections.