Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, says Peter Obi running for the presidency as the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) does not pose a threat to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Monday during an interview with Channels Television, Ganduje said Obi’s candidacy is a “good omen” for his party.
In 2019, the former Anambra governor was the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, was the presidential candidate.
In May, Obi dumped the PDP and clinched the presidential ticket of the LP.
Over the past weeks, political analysts have asserted that the participation of Obi in the 2023 presidential election may affect the PDP’s chances as he could eat deeply into the opposition party’s vote in areas hitherto considered as their strong hold.
Asked if the growing popularity of Obi may cause problems for the APC, the Kano governor said Obi as LP candidate will have little to no effect on the APC.
He said the votes of the entire South East is equivalent to the of a local government in Kano state.
“The effect of the emergence of Labour Party with Obi as the presidential candidate, I think it is a good omen for the APC because our major contender is the PDP,” he said.
“If you look at it, what is our political investment in the south-east? The votes (referring to one of the previous elections) we got from Nassarawa LGA in Kano metropolitan were much higher than the total votes the APC got in the whole five states of the south-east.
“You can see that if there is any problem, politically in the south-east, it is the PDP that will suffer the brunt.
“The emergence of Obi from the south-eastern part of this country, I think it is the votes of the PDP that he will be snatched away and he is already snatching it away. For APC – it is even a good omen.
“Instead of having a very close competitor, now the competitor, his attention is being divided apart from the problem they are having in the political party, especially the G5.
“Any political analyst will know that the emergence of the Labour Party is a minus to PDP and by implication and extrapolation, it is a plus to our great party the APC.”