A former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has stated that consensus arrangement bandied by some presidential aspirants from the north was not the answer to the country’s many problems.
The Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP in tbe 2019 election stated this at a meeting with PDP leaders in Akure, Ondo State on Sunday.
He stressed that the consensus option would not work for Nigeria at this time.
The presidential aspirant also decried the neglect of the Akure-Ado Ekiti road, saying the road could be fixed with N5 billion.
Peter Obi urged Nigerians to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023, stating that the party had driven the country backwards.
The quartet of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Sokoto State Governor; his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed; and the former Managing Director of FSB International Bank, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, are the proponents of the consensus arrangement.
This claim was in reaction to the Northern elders’ reported endorsement of former Senate President Bukola Saraki and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed as the consensus candidates for the region.
However, in statement by the Director, Publicity and Advocacy of NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Sunday, he said the entire process to produce the consensus candidates did not involve the Forum, hence it was dismissed.
“It is important to make clear that the entire process did not involve the Northern Elders Forum as a group, and is not a product of the group. Professor Ango Abdullahi is free to undertake any lawful activity as a citizen, and genuine misinterpretations of his role are understandable.
“Northern Elders Forum is not affiliated to any political party or aspirant, and is strongly committed to the creation of a level playing field which will allow the emergence of the best leaders in the 2023 elections. It has also remained consistent in its conviction that all parts of the country should play their parts freely, unhindered by restrictions which offend principles of inclusion and fairness. The Forum believes the North has excellent candidates whose fate should be left to party delegates and voters to decide.” the statement reads party
