2027: ‘Mutual desperation’ – APC kicks over merger talks

• The ruling party says it expects Obi to return to the PDP or Atiku to the LP, as they are known for their political wandering.
• The party urged Nigerians to distrust the duo who are unable to effectively address the country’s complex national, political, and economic challenges.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says “mutual desperation” to be president of Nigeria is uniting Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) in 2023.

The ruling party said this in response to a recent meeting between Abubakar and Obi.

Both men ran together on the PDP ticket in the run-up to the 2019 election

In a statement on Tuesday, Felix Morka, APC spokesperson, said news of Obi’s return to PDP would not be surprising because he is a “political wayfarer that is only dwarfed by Atiku’s track record as a veteran political wanderer”

“A recent visit by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has fueled speculations of a possible alliance between both men or merger of their political parties in the lead up to 2027,” Morka said.

“What is unclear, however, is whether Obi would make a comeback to Atiku’s PDP or whether Atiku would dump his PDP and seek rehabilitation in Obi’s Labour Party or whether both men would abandon PDP and Labour, altogether, and sojourn into the political wilderness of Professor Pat Utomi’s mega party.

“Atiku and Obi are united by their mutual desperation to be President of Nigeria and ignoble disdain for President Bola Tinubu’s focused and extraordinary commitment to the transformation of our nation.

“Their restless drift in search of convenient party platforms to execute their presidential run only belie the self-indulgent and opportunistic essence of their aspirations.

“Men without the staying power to build or fix their own parties, who flee at the slightest flicker of internal crisis cannot possibly be trusted by Nigerians to tackle serious and complex national political and economic challenges that confront our nation.”

The APC spokesperson said President Bola Tinubu has the qualities to deliver a resurgent Nigeria of stable growth and development.