The Labour Party candidate for the Oyi constituency at the Anambra State House of Assembly, Mr Obinna Okafor, has accused the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, of sponsoring the “attack” carried out on the supporters of Peter Obi.
The police had dispersed Obi’s supporters during a solidarity march in Abakaliki on Saturday.
Okafor, who spoke to journalists in Awka, Monday, alleged that Umahi had displayed an anti-Obi posturing since he failed to clinch the presidential nomination of his party, the All Progressives Congress.
He noted that presently in Nigeria, two factors would determine the direction of the 2023 general election.
According to him, the factors are: 20 per cent are those playing partisan politics and 80 per cent are those who do not belong to any political party.
He pointed out that the 80 per cent that did not belong to any political party had resolved that the old politicians had failed them and they wanted a change, for the youths to take back the country as it could not continue to be business as usual again.
He said, “So, we are not surprised that some of our supporters were attacked in Abakaliki. It is unfortunate that the incident happened in Abakaliki, South-East, where all of us are expecting that it is our own, for maximum support.
“Umahi cannot claim ignorance of what happened, he is the Chief Security Officer of Ebonyi State, and should be the one to give account of what happens in the state.
“There is nothing that happens there that he is not aware of, as chief security officer. Assuming he was not aware of what happened, how many suspects has he arrested after the incident?
“Sometime in the past, Umahi said that Ebonyi people were not ‘Obidients’, that they were going to deliver his APC. So, we are watching to see how that is going to turn out. Same thing wants to happen at Lekki, Lagos State, as the LP supporters are preparing for a million-man-march, the APC had gone to court to stop the march, because they were all APC supporters, they didn’t want the Labour Party in their states.
“They are afraid of what is happening in Nigeria now – the movement of the Labour Party by youths – because those in power have failed us. We knew where we were about seven years ago before the APC took power and where we are now.
“We are expecting more states to be hostile, the youths and Nigerians are determined to take back their country from the old politicians and they are unstoppable.”
