Following media reports on Tuesday that the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi met with members-elect of the party and allegedly directed them to vote for aspirants other than those endorsed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the presiding officers’ positions, the leader of the party’s House of Representatives Caucus, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene has denied the allegation.
Hon. Ogene in a terse response to the story which has gone viral stated that though a meeting held on Monday night with Mr Peter Obi, it was never at his instance, neither did he at the meeting coerce any of them to vote for any prefered candidate as “wrongly” stated in the report.
He described the notion that Obi called for the meeting to press home his demands on the need to vote Senator Abdul Aziz Yari as Senate President and Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu as Speaker as “a lie from the pit of hell.”
“The insinuation that Mr. Peter Obi, National Leader and Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party(LP) is coercing Members-Elect of the House of Representatives to vote for a particular candidate in the Speakership race is a lie from the pit of hell.
“Yes, as a Caucus, we met last night, but not at Mr Obi’s behest. The notice of the meeting was sent out by the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, and Mr Obi was only invited as National Leader of the Party.
“After virtually all 27 Members-Elect present at the meeting had taken turns to speak, Mr. Obi, who was the first to leave because of another engagement, advised members to ensure, as much as possible, that they are united in arriving at a decision regarding who to vote for as Presiding Officers,” he said.
He also quoted Obi as “contending that Nigerians place huge expectations on the Labour Party,” just as he “lauded the suggestion by a member, to the effect that the Members-Elect would be making an important statement if they decide to nominate one of them for Speakership, and all 35 members vote in that regard.”
“Everything must not be about what you can gain as individuals, but rather your place in history as you begin your sojourn in the National Assembly,” Obi said.
“Not once, throughout his about 15-minute speech, did Mr Obi mention any aspirant by name. On the contrary, he urged the members to continue talking amongst themselves, under the guidance of the National Chairman and the Caucus Leader.
“In fact, for the records, Mr Obi had in his first official interaction with the LP Members-Elect – soon after they collected their certificates of return – urged them to decide for themselves who to vote for,” Hon. Afam Ogene, leader of the LP House of Representatives caucus, said.
He stressed that in Obi’s words at the time: “You are the ones elected, so the onus rests with all of you, to interface with others to choose your leaders. As for me, several aspirants, both in the Senate and the House have been trying to reach me, but I prefer to allow you people to take your fate in your own hands.”
