By Sunday Ani
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim has joined several well meaning Nigerians who have commended the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi for changing the country’s political equation.
He said Obi had become a factor in the political equation of the 2023 presidential election and expressed pride in him for doing what he was unable to do. “I must state here and always that I am proud of His Excellency, Peter Obi for doing what I could not do,” he said.
He made the commendation in a statement debunking his membership of the G5 Governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the front page story on Thisday Newspaper edition of February 17, headlined, “How G5 PDP governors, other PDP leaders stand on presidential choice,” insinuated.
He recounted what happened at the PDP presidential primaries, saying, “I am sufficiently knowledgeable of the event leading to and after the PDP presidential primaries and have my own convictions why I should not, in any way, be part of the G5 governors and leaders.
“I want to state very clearly that after the presidential primaries, I chose to remain in PDP as a leader and responsible citizen of Nigeria, who should and indeed, do place Nigeria over and above my personal interest. I must confess that this decision was reinforced by my experience from working with President Goodluck Jonathan. It may be necessary to state that after the PDP presidential primaries, I have remained a faithful member of my party, the PDP, and have no intention whatsoever to leave my party, more so as one of my campaign credits during the primaries was that I have remained in the party since 1999, even when many others had moved out and back to the PDP many times,”.
Speaking about Obi, he said: “On the issue of His Excellency, Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, I am to say that I was in the PDP presidential primaries with him and others, and at some point, all of us from the South East met and resolved to work together, to ensure the zoning of the presidential position to South East, and that whoever among us that got the ticket should be supported by others. When the zoning failed, Obi pulled out and joined LP, while I continued to the end.
“To the credit of Obi, today, he has become a factor in the political equation of the 2023 presidential election. I must state here and always that I am proud of His Excellency, Peter Obi for doing what I could not do.
“For me, Peter Obi winning or not should not be the issue, but rather his ability to bring LP from nowhere to a position of reckoning is a huge contribution to our political development. He has broken an age-long myth and should be seen as having immeasurably become a source of inspiration to the future generation of Nigerian politicians, and indeed, has taken his pride of place in the history of Nigerian politics.”