Obi, Labour Party Turn Down President Tinubu’s Appointments Offer

The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have kicked against President Bola Tinubu offer of appointments into the Boards of Federal Government agencies and parastatals made to state governors, including those of the opposition political parties.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, announced the presidential offer at a meeting of the Forum on Tuesday night and therefore urged governors to nominate competent persons to serve in the boards of Agencies and parastatals of Federal Government which were dissolved in June by President Tinubu.

However, the Labour Party while commenting on the offer by President Tinubu, noted that offer to opposition parties, were a ‘gimmick’ aimed at luring the opposition parties and their chieftains into the All Progressives Congress.

This was as Mr. Peter Obi said that the offer was nothing but an obvious gimmick, adding that it was a known fact that Tinubu is facing a problem of election in Court thus, easy for one to see what he is trying to do no matter how positive it looks.

Obi, who spoke through his media aide, Tai Obasi said that no one would get carried away with such a gimmick whose motive is clear to everyone.

The Director of Media for the Obi-Datti Campaign Council, Mr. Yunusa Tanko noted that such a subtle move is laced with some unwritten agenda.

Tanko pointedly said that the offer will not change the fact that the Tinubu’s presidency is an illegitimate government thus, APC is doing everything within its crooked book to ensure it legitimize this government.

In the words of Tanko; “We have resisted vehemently in agreeing to legitimize the illegitimate government. We will only do what is rightfully ours when the court makes its decision and pronouncement.

“Sending letters to state governors is part of the process of legitimizing their governance which we are resisting. As far as we are concerned, every attempt we see them try to carry out is a means to cajole people to believe and legitimize their government. That is the truth about it,” he said.

He therefore expressed concern why the APC would want to appease the sole Labour Party governor with Board offers when the party has hundreds of supporters in Abia State that could be given such board appointments.

According to Tanko; “At the moment, LP has only one governor. The belief is that the governor may likely dance to their tune. But, the truth about it is that, will the APC tell you they don’t have party people in Abia State that they can nominate? Why must they go through the governor to do so? What they are aiming to do is to indirectly co-opt him into their party. That’s the truth”.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Peter Obi’s media aide, Tai Obasi, said as much as what the president is attempting to do appears positive, it is not enough to legitimise his government.

“But again, the oppositions are not fools. As we are concerned, we still see his government as an interim one,” he concluded.

“This is a good development, and it shows the commitment of President Tinubu to engendering national integration and a government of national unity towards sustainable growth and development.

It is commendable that he wants to harness all good hands to contribute their quota to national development,” he said.

Punch