LP chieftain: Tinubu asked Utomi to step down for Obi to hurt Atiku’s chances

Tawfiq Akinwale, Oyo governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, has alleged that Bola Tinubu asked Pat Utomi to relinquish the presidential ticket to Peter Obi.

Speaking during a radio programme on 101.7 YES FM, in Ibadan, the Oyo capital, Akiwale said President-elect Tinubu asked “Utomi to step down for Obi to become the standard bearer of the LP”, adding that the “objective was to reduce the chances of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections.

“Initially, it was Pat Utomi who had the presidential ticket of the party (Labour Party). Let me say something that many people don’t know today,” Akinwale said.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a legendary politician. Everyone knows that Pat Utomi is a political mentee of Tinubu.

“The president-elect said since Peter Obi left PDP, Pat Utomi should step down for him (referring to the LP presidential ticket) because he wanted to reduce the chances of Atiku. He knows that Atiku is also a big politician.”

Asked if Tinubu asked Utomi to relinquish the LP presidential ticket to Peter Obi, he responded with an emphatic “yes”.

“What Peter Obi does not know is more than what he knows,” he added.

On March 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election.

Announcing the results, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored the second-highest figure with 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) polled third with 6,101,533 votes.

Utomi is yet to respond to TheCable’s request for a reaction to Akinwale’s claims, with calls and text messages to his mobile unanswered, as of the time of publishing this story.

However, in what seemed like a response to the development, Utomi posted a cryptic tweet that reads: “As I watch the desperation with which past acts sown in love for the common good is unearthed and bent into disinformation regarding the present, I am thankful that in the end truth is the only thing that prevails when lust for power is consumed by its own negativity. So I ignore.”

As I watch the desperation with which past acts sown in love for the common good is unearthed and bent into disinformation regarding the present I am thankful that in the end truth is the only thing that prevails when lust for power is consumed by its own negativity. So I ignore

— Pat Utomi (@UtomiPat) May 25, 2023