The supremacy battle between the camps of the presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Musa Kwankwaso, is threatening the proposed alliance of the two opposition parties.
Indications emerged at the weekend that despite the prospects, Obi and Kwankwaso are at a crossroads over who would step down for the other.
A news correspondent said that the camps of both candidates were flaunting qualities that give them comparative advantages in the presidential race.
Leaders of the NNPP had on Saturday, insisted that the only alliance they would enter into with Obi is on grounds that he accept to contest as deputy.
They argued that on the comparative democratic index, Kwankwaso was ahead of Obi, hence, the former Anambra governor should take up the second position.
“Obi is from the South East. PDP, not the Labour Party, is strong there. His return in terms of votes, even from the South East would be insignificant compared to Kwankwaso, who is from the North West and NNPP is one of the strongest parties in Kano, Jigawa, Kastina, and Kaduna state,” a top official of the party told newsmen
He said when it comes to voting power, Kano alone can turn in votes of almost two-thirds of the South East, adding that at the rate the NNPP is waxing strong in Kano State, Kwankwaso would certainly take a lion’s share of votes from Kano, ahead of Atiku, a fellow Northerner, and Tinubu, a Muslim southerner.
“While Obi’s Labour Party has no particular hold on any known region or political officer in the current dispensation, Kwankwaso’s NNPP has gubernatorial candidates in about 22 states, three serving senators, a number of Reps, and House of Assembly members who have already defected or has indicated interests to renounce their current party,” he said.
He said Kwankwaso did not believe in a Muslim-Muslim ticket as being pursued by some parties given his love for the unity and oneness of Nigeria.
“It would be gravely unfair for Peter Obi and his party to expect Senator Kwankwaso to be their vice despite the facts of how they stand politically.”
The source stressed that Kwankwaso would never step down for Obi while counseling the LP presidential candidate, his supporters, and the people of the South East to accept the offer of the vice presidential slot as it remained their best bargain in the current dispensation.
Obaland magazine learned that Obi’s camp would settle for nothing less than the presidential seat considering the momentum the LP standard bearer is gathering.
A highly placed source described Obi as the new kid on the block with overwhelming popularity among Nigerian youths who constitute about 65 percent of the population.
“Obi did not join the presidential race to deputize anybody; the Labour Party candidate already has the South East, South-South, and largely the North Central in his kitty,” he boasted.
Report From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
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