•Obi and Jonathan
The Obidient Movement has denied reports that it begged former President Goodluck Jonathan to step down his rumoured presidential ambition for Mr. Peter Obi, instead of contesting against him in the 2027 presidential election.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr Yunusa Tanko in a chat with our correspondent yesterday said it only asked Jonathan to reciprocate the good gestures made by Obi who stood by him when the opposition were trying to oust him from office in 2015, reports Daily Independent.
According to Tanko, Peter Obi stood by Jonathan when the opposition tried to oust him from office in 2015.
It said that was why the movement also asked Jonathan to repay Obi’s good deeds by supporting him in the 2027 presidential election.
“That is false. We never asked former president Jonathan to step down for Peter Obi. It was a wrong message by that reporter (not The Frontier’s).
“What transpired was that they sought my reaction on the visit by Peter Obi to former President Goodluck Jonathan. I said yes, they have a longstanding relationship. That even when Jonathan was about being removed by the likes of Rotimi Amaechi who said it publicly that they were the ones who worked hard to remove Jonathan from office, it was only Peter Obi who stood up for him.
“Obi stood by Jonathan then and he never worked with the opposition to remove him from office.
“I said that now that Peter Obi is seeking to become the President of Nigeria, it is only reciprocal for Jonathan to support Peter Obi. I never used the word ‘beg’ or ‘step down’.
“So, we did not beg former President Jonathan to step down for Peter Obi. We only appealed to him to reciprocate Peter Obi’s good gestures as we head towards the 2027 presidential election”.
