Northern APC Christian Leaders Deny Endorsing Peter Obi as Dogara Gives Crucial Update

Northern APC Christian Leaders Deny Endorsing Peter Obi as Dogara Gives Crucial Update

  • The Northern APC Christian Leaders have distanced themselves from endorsing Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi
  • Babachir Lawal, the chairman of the aggrieved APC group, had announced that the group was backing Obi
  • However, eight members of the group said they have not decided to back the LP flagbearer and Lawal's endorsement was his personal decision

Ahead of the 2023 general election, the Northern APC Christian Leaders have denied endorsing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.

A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, had said the group is backing Obi against Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) due to the ruling party's Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Yakubu Dogara/Peter Obi/Northern APC Christian Leaders/Babachir Lawal
The Northern APC Christian Leaders distanced themselves from Babachir Lawa's endorsement of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Photo credits: Mr. Peter Obi, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara
Source: Facebook

Lawal is also a member of the aggrieved group within the APC.

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Peter Obi endorsement: Eight members distance themselves from Babachir Lawal

In a statement released late Thursday night, November 24, eight members, including a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and a former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Simon Acbuba, distanced themselves and the group from Babachir’s position,

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They said the endorsement of Obi was the former SGF's personal opinion and does not represent the group's stance, Leadership reported.

Dogara and others said their group, after due diligence, had taken a position already and had agreed at a particular time and occasion to reveal the position.

They added that no one among the members of the group, including Lawal, who is the chairman, has been mandated to speak to the public “about our position at this material time.”

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2023 presidency: List of northern APC Christian leaders who have refused to endorse Peter Obi

“Consequently, the decision to endorse a particular candidate and the statement credited to the chairman are soley the decision and views of the Chairman which he is absolutely entitled to but not that of the group.
"We hope this statement clears all the querries most of us have been inundated with on this all important subject matter," the statement read partly.

Tinubu gets major endorsement in Peter Obi’s territory

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Tinubu's presidential bid took a positive twist ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general election.

Tinubu who has not been widely favoured in the southeastern part of Nigeria received a huge boost after being endorsed by top monarchs and stakeholders in Ebonyi state.

Te Ebonyi state traditional rulers council during a town hall meeting on Wednesday, November 23 pledged their absolute allegiance to the presidential bid of Tinubu.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Nurudeen Lawal avatar

Nurudeen Lawal (Head of Politics and Current Affairs Desk) Nurudeen Lawal is an AFP-certified journalist with a wealth of experience spanning over 8 years. He received his B/Arts degree in Literature-in-English from OAU. Lawal is the Head of the Politics/CA Desk at Legit.ng, where he applies his expertise to provide incisive coverage of events. He was named the Political Desk Head of the Year (Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award 2023). He is also a certified fact-checker (Dubawa fellowship, 2020). Contact him at lawal.nurudeen@corp.legit.ng or +2347057737768.