Immediate-past Senate Minority Leader, and Senator representing Abia South district, Senator Abaribe who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, has said that those referring to the candidature of the presidential flag bearer of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi as ‘Igbo presidency’, are mischievous and on a smear campaign to de-market him.
Senator Abaribe who spoke during a virtual town hall meeting by Ikengaonline argued that it is unfair to single out Obi and link his ambition with his tribe while leaving out other presidential candidates. He wondered why Obi’s traducers are not also referring to Atiku Abubarkar of the Proples Democratic Party, PDP as ‘Fulani presidency’; and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress, APC, as ‘Yoruba presidency’.
In his word,
“It’s unfortunate that Peter Obi’s emergence which is now a silver lining has come with complications. Tinubu has a presidential ticket, nobody is saying it’s a Yoruba ticket.
”Atiku has a ticket, nobody is saying it’s a Fulani ticket. But Peter Obi got a ticket and everybody is shouting:’It’s Igbo presidency. Some even try to link him with the Biafra agitation.
”Have they tried to associate Tinubu with the Oduduwa self determination agitation? Or Atiku within the Fulani herdsmen menace or the banditary in the North”