Reno Omokri: I recommended Peter Obi to Atiku as running mate in 2019

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, says he recommended Peter Obi to be Atiku Abubakar’s running mate during the 2019 elections because “he was the best” at the time.

Speaking in an interview on the “Mic On podcast” hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, a journalist with Channels Television, Omokri said he consulted former President Jonathan before the recommendation.

“…Peter Obi cannot deny that I was the one who recommended him to Waziri Atiku Abubakar. Waziri Atiku Abubakar asked me to help him to choose a running mate,” Omokri said.

“I called former President Jonathan, I discussed with him. Former President Jonathan said, ‘look, it must be Peter Obi’ and then I told former President Jonathan that I can’t just this man only one name and so we padded the list with some other people’s names and then we put Peter Obi’s name and made it so rosy.

“Then, Waziri Atiku Abubakar chose Peter Obi.”

Omokri said he also advised Obi on how to achieve his presidential ambition ahead of the 2023 elections.

“I told Peter Obi that the best path to the presidency for him is to run as Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s running mate and then be loyal to him,” he said.

“And then, when Waziri finishes his tenure, naturally the baton will change from the present to him. He didn’t listen to me.

“If you contest, you are not going to win. The only thing that you’re going to achieve in contesting is that you are going to split the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) votes and make it possible for Bola Tinubu to win.

“In terms of education, Peter Obi is the least educationally qualified among the others. In terms of achievement while in office, he doesn’t come close to any of Tinubu and Atiku at all.

“At the end of the day, if you hold the presidential election 10 times, Peter Obi is still not going to win.”

Speaking on the achievements of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections while he was a governor, Omokri said the chairman of Eti-osa LGA in Lagos has done more in governance than Obi.

“I am giving a challenge. I will give any (Obidient) $10,000 if they can name one school that Peter Obi started, completed and commissioned while he was governor of Anambra state,” he said.

“The Chairman of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State has more achievements in governance than Peter Obi.”

Obi was the governor of Anambra from June 2007 to March 2014.

He left the PDP to pick the presidential ticket of the LP for the 2023 election.

Both Obi and Abubakar lost the presidential election to Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).