Former Governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, has made a public appeal to the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to withdraw his petition against the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He urged Obi to join him in the task of making a new nation and align with the ebullience and conviviality of welcoming Tinubu's victory to the Office of the President of the greatest black nation on earth.
Obi had filed a petition to challenge the victory of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress in the 25 February election. Obi, who came third in the election, alleged that the election was characterized by various irregularities, including the non-qualification of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, to contest the election. Obi also stated that Tinubu failed to win the majority of the lawful votes cast in the election and just as he could not secure one-quarter of the legal votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In response to Obi's petition, Nnamani said that Obi knows he has neither the spread nor national appeal to win the Presidential election, and what he is doing with the petition is "bad belle, petulance and demarketing." Nnamani believes that Obi's petition is ego-driven and a joke carried too far. His attempt to highlight non-electoral issues is trying to embarrass the President-elect.
Nnamani advised Obi to come down from his high horse to allow sedate minds to negotiate on behalf of the Igbo and South East for a safe landing to include their stake in the national Palavar and share of the accruals of the commonwealth. He believes that it's time for the Igbo to confront reality and align themselves with the mainstream to participate in making a new Nigeria. They cannot afford to be consigned to the backwoods of history.
Above all, Nnamani's public appeal to Obi to withdraw his petition against the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a call for unity and national development. He believes that the Igbo and South East can only bargain for their share of the accruals of the commonwealth by aligning themselves with the mainstream and participating in making a new Nigeria. It's time for the Igbo to confront reality and join the task of making a new nation.
