Labour Party’s presidential campaign spokesperson Ndi Kato believes that Peter Obi’s presidential ambition transcends his Igbo ethnicity.
Critics argue that the former Anambra State governor’s support base does not stretch beyond his South-East region, maintaining he is unpopular in several parts of the country.
But Ndi Kato has refuted the claims, saying the Labour Party’s presidential flagbearer’s tentacles spread way beyond the South-East.
“We may say they do not have the numbers, but Peter Obi is not an Igbo candidate,” she said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
The LP spokesperson argued that every politician needs a strong base and as such Obi’s popularity in the region is not out of place.
“He has a strong base and people are not indifferent about Peter Obi. There are candidates that do not have a strong base. You may hear of them on the national scene but to see a place where they have people emotionally invested in them [is absent],” she added.
While the Labour Party does not have any sitting governor and other top political office holders in their ranks, the Kaduna-born image maker says the party has something bigger.
“We have the people,” Ndi Kato said, accusing the political class of stifling the masses.
But “what we are seeing now,” she argued, “is that the everyday man wants to take upon this job of securing this country, and the elections; making sure that the elections are delivered. That is what we have on our side. The carpenter and the man who works in the bank – that is what we have”.
She claimed the LP is dictating the pace of the electioneering campaign. While “there has been a shift in the way things are happening,” she accused the opposition of a “lack of recognition” for such and relying on the “old ways of doing things”.
However, she believes “the movement is enough to win the election”.
