Reno Omokri, a former ally of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said the party lost the presidential to Peter Obi who defected to the Labour Party, and not to Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
Omokri in an open letter to the PDP said by contesting in an election he knew he could not win, Peter Obi stole away votes that would naturally have come to the Peoples Democratic Party (the Southeast has always voted PDP since 1999. Only 2023 was an exception). That is why the party lost.
“As a true friend of the Peoples Democratic Party, I told Peter Obi this before the election. I also said the same thing to Waziri Atiku Abubakarbopur. I said if we did not find a way to convince Peter Obi not to run, then we would have to take him on head-on because there was not enough space for both him and Waziri Atiku Abubakar on the plinth of victory. But that is now history.
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“The fact of the matter is that the current trajectory of our party is very and eerily similar to the election denial that prevailed in the Republican Party after the 2020 election.
“Pinning all our hopes on a smoking gun from Chicago State University that failed to manifest shows that we have reached the end of our ropes.
“Let us face the truth. AriseTV and other irresponsible media got our hopes up unnecessarily. Chicago State University never denied Bola Tinubu. That was a big fat lie from Rufai Oseni, a corrupt journalist sponsored by Peter Obi, a rival of Mr. Tinubu.
“A meticulous reading of Mr. Westberg’s deposition shows that he affirmed Mr. Tinubu three times as a bonafide graduate once issued with a diploma certificate.
“Under normal circumstances, it would be apparent to us that there is no case here. Chicago State University, through its registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, has testified under oath that Bola Tinubu, the male now President of Nigeria, was admitted, attended and graduated from their institution.
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“They never denied his credentials. What they said, both in their affidavit and the deposition that followed is that they could not attest to the diploma tendered by Bola Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission, not because Bola Tinubu did not graduate from their university, but because a third party vendor issued it, and certificates are more of “a Nigerian thing”.
“In case members of my party do not know, in November of 2022, this same Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah had attempted to disqualify Mr. Tinubu on exactly these same grounds that we are following today, and an FCT Magistrate Court struck out his case without being assigned. And then we think the Supreme Court will give credence to what a Magistrate Court dismissed?
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“What do we now want to prove at the Supreme Court, even in the unlikely event we are allowed to present new evidence? That Bola Tinubu forged a diploma for a degree that he legitimately earned? If not for desperation, why would the great Peoples Democratic Party that produced Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan even consider clutching at such a weak straw? It is like saying a man forged a cheque for an account in his name!
“The people behind this desperation are almost all agents of Peter Obi, and they don’t love Waziri Atiku Abubakar or the PDP. To them, it is a clever strategy of using Waziri to fight Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, hoping that they cancel each other and that a rerun election is ordered, which Peter Obi will win. They fail to consider that as of today and the foreseeable future that is yes daddily impossible.
“Waziri Atiku Abubakar would have been a better President than Bola Tinubu. But whether through rigging or by fair play, we were outsmarted by Bola Tinubu during the #NigerianElections2023, and our redemption as a party will not come from Chicago. It will come from facing reality and ensuring we do not have a divided house in 2027.