Peter Obi, Pat Utomi to contest Labour Party presidential primary on Monday

Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra, and Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy, are set to contest the presidential ticket of the Labour Party (LP).

TheCable understands that the national convention of the party is set to hold on Monday in Asaba, the Delta capital.

A source in the party told TheCable that Obi and Utomi are the two leading presidential candidates of the party.

On Friday, Obi, a presidential aspirant, joined LP hours after announcing the resignation of his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The former Anambra governor said his decision to join LP aligns with the interest of Nigerians across different sectors, adding that he wants to take the country from consumption to production.

“Therefore, I have chosen a route that I consider to be in line with our aspirations and my mantra of taking the country from consumption to production; and that is the Labour Party which is synonymous with the people, workers, development, production, securing and uniting Nigerians as one family,” Obi had said.

Utomi, co-convener the National Consultative Front (NCFront), is one of the stakeholders creating awareness on the need for a third force that will break the dominance of two major political parties in the country.

Reacting to the LP presidential primary, Tanko Yunusa, head of affairs of NCFront, in a statement on Sunday by Bilkis Bello, spokesperson of the group, urged Nigerians to join the “ballot revolution of the working people” on the platform of LP.

“Tanko Yunusa, in company of other party chieftains and bigwigs also used the occasion to carpet the ‘cash and carry’ party primaries of the APC and PDP, describing it as corruptive and criminal, calling on the EFCC to immediately go after the candidates and delegates of the APC and PDP for destroying Nigeria’s electoral system and moral fabric,” the statement reads.

“The Front, while also applauding the bubbling political synergy between two leading presidential aspirants of the party, Peter Obi and Pat Utomi in the Labour Party, also condemned the activities of some disgruntled elements and sponsored agents by APC and PDP in the press, trying to create a false picture of incohesion in the party

“The movement, in the light of the crystallising rainbow coalition in Labour Party, also invited all well meaning Nigerians, including women, youths, physically challenged, the poor and the well-to-do, among others, to immediately join forces with the Labour Party to rescue Nigeria from the heightening insecurity and imminent collapse foisted by incompetent rulers of the country, currently trading in delegates all over the country.”