2023 Presidency: Peter Obi may win these Northern states - APC bigwig

Considering the growing popularity of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) has made some predictions about certain possibilities in the coming general elections.

The deputy spokesperson for the APC's presidential campaign council, Hannatu Musawa, who spoke with The Punch on Sunday, October 16, said Obi may claim some northern states whose votes are very much needed for any candidate to win a national election.

Admitting that the presidential election will be won and lost in the north, Musawa noted that states like Benue, Plateau, and perhaps Taraba may go for the former Anambra governor.

Musawa said: "This election is going to be won and lost in the North. That is the bottom line. It is the reality, whether we like it or not.

"The Constitution and the Electoral Act’s requirement for election are not just to have a million people march for you. You need to have a fair number of votes coming from a certain number of states.

"...I cannot see him winning any state in the North, with the exception of Benue, Plateau and, maybe, Taraba, that are needed to win a national election..."

Before this, a chieftain of the ruling party who happens to be one of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's strategists told the newspaper that the APC campaign team will use two strategies against Obi and his movement in the southwest: issues and sentiments.

The chieftain, who pleaded anonymity, confessed that the Obidients constitute a movement that cannot be overlooked or swept under the carpet.

He said that Obi's supporters are not only capable but will actually shift the political terrain of Nigeria soon.

His words:

“Let me tell you what we are considering now to neutralise the movement. Two things will be involved in the electoral campaigns: issues and sentiments. There is always voter apathy in the South-West and if at all there is going to be an increase (in voters’ turnout) in the South-West now, it is going to be pro-Asiwaju because the Igbo people are stamping on our authority in our zone. I am not joking.

“Let me tell you about the ‘Obidients’, the ‘Obidients’ are a movement that cannot be swept under the carpet and I can tell you that they will shift the political terrain of this country."