Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign organisation, says the timing of Peter Obi presidential ambition is wrong.
Obi is presidential flagbearer of Labour Party (LP).
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Friday, Melaye said what Nigeria needs right now is someone that can unite the country, something, according to him, Obi does not have the capacity to do.
On the increasing wave of political consciousness among Nigerians, especially on social media, the former senator said the social media popularity of Obi is “euphoria”.
Melaye added that the LP presidential candidate is a fantastic person, but 2023 is not his time to become Nigeria’s president.
“To start with it, there is no wave. What you have is an euphoria — a created euphoria. Peter Obi is a fantastic Nigerian. I have tremendous respect for him and I have said it before that he is a fantastic person,” Melaye said.
“But this is not his time. He does not have what it takes now to unify this country. Even before you start talking about the economy, you need peace and you need to build trust among Nigerians.
“It takes Atiku to unify this country. This is a man that would be trusted in the north, south, east and every part of this country to unify this country and today, among all the presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar is the only one that can be trusted.
“Nobody will see him as a religious bigot; nobody will see him as a tribalist; nobody will see him as an ethnic jingoist. From those of us around him, you can tell.”