Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has announced his endorsement of the Labor Party’s presidential candidate for Nigeria’s 2023 election, Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State.
In an open letter to the youth of Nigeria, Obasanjo, who served as the country’s president for two terms from 1999 to 2007, argued that he made his choice for president in next month's election after comparing the “character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, (and) discipline” of all the contestants for the country’s highest office.
“None of the contestants is a saint,” the former head of state acknowledged. “Great efforts (are) required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge.”
However, Obasanjo admitted that all other presidential hopes, including the All Progressives Congress’s Bola Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, and New Nigeria Peoples Party’s Rabiu Kwankwaso, “have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration and salvaging of Nigeria collectively.”
“I have interacted with the major contestants and I find it interesting that, in one form or the other, each of them claims to want to do what I did during my Presidency and to take Nigeria back to where it was at the height of my Presidency and immediately after,” Obasanjo wrote.
With Dumebi Kachikwu, the 2023 presidential candidate of Obasanjo’s African Democratic Congress party, being expelled over alleged anti-party activities, the former president believes that the Labor Party’s presidential nominee would be able to guide Nigeria down the right path.
“One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with (a) thread attached to it from North and South, and he may not get lost,” the ex-president said. “In other words, he has people who can pull his ears, if and when necessary.”
Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election is set to be held on February 25, 2023, along with other federal elections, including elections to the country's House of Representatives and the Senate. Two weeks afterward, the Nigerian people are expected to cast their vote in state elections.
On May 29, 2023, the former date of Democracy Day, the winner of the presidential election will be inaugurated as a successor to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who is term-limited and cannot seek re-election for a third term.