6 months ago
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A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has contrasted the leadership of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, with that of the Chairman of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State, asserting the latter’s administration as superior.
Obi served as the Anambra State Governor from June 2007 to March 2014.
“The Chairman of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State has more achievements in governance than Peter Obi,” Omokri said in an interview on the ‘Mic On Podcast’ programme hosted by a Channels Television’s journalist, Seun Okinbaloye, late Saturday.
“I know for a fact that the Eti-Osa Local Government Chairman has built at least, to my knowledge, three schools,” Omokri affirmed.
The social media influencer also challenged the Obidients – adherents of Obi, to mention a school built by the latter in his eight years as governor of the Southeastern state.
He noted that while Obi was the Anambra State Governor, he didn’t start, complete and inaugurate a school.
Omokri said, “I am giving a challenge. I will give any (Obidient) $10,000 if they can name one school that Peter Obi started, completed and commissioned while he was governor,” debunking views that Obi was better than former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and President Bola Tinubu in terms of infrastructural developments.
Upon Obi’s end of tenure as the state governor in 2014, he joined the Peoples Democratic Party to run as a running mate to the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 presidential election.
The election was later lost to former President Muhammadu Buhari under the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Omokri, a former aide to erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan, recalled how he encouraged Obi to tread “the best path” for his presidential ambition.
“…Peter Obi cannot deny that I was the one who recommended him to Waziri Atiku Abubakar. Waziri Atiku Abubakar asked me to help him to choose a running mate.
“I called former President Jonathan, I discussed with him. Former President Jonathan told me, ‘Look, it must be Peter Obi’ and then I told former President Jonathan that I can’t just give this man only one name and so we padded the list with some other people’s names and then we put Peter Obi’s name and made it so rosy.
“And, Waziri Atiku Abubakar chose Peter Obi,” the social media influencer stated, adding that “Peter Obi was the best person at that time.”
However, Omokri lamented that despite his efforts, Obi didn’t heed his advice.
He said, “I told Peter Obi that the best path to the presidency for him is to run as Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s running mate and then be loyal to him.
“And then, when Waziri finishes his tenure, naturally the baton will change from the present to him. He didn’t listen to me.”
The former presidential aide noted that Obi wasn’t posited to win the 2023 election but rather, he (Obi) would “split the Peoples Democratic Party votes and make it possible for Bola Tinubu to win.
“If you contest, you are not going to win. The only thing that you’re going to achieve in contesting is that you are going to split the People’s Democratic Party votes and make it possible for Bola Tinubu to win,” Omokri added.
“In terms of education, Peter Obi is the least educationally qualified among the others. In terms of achievement while in office, he doesn’t come close to any of Tinubu and Atiku at all.
“At the end of the day, if you hold the presidential election 10 times, Peter Obi is still not going to win,” Omokri added.
Obi contested for the presidency in the 2023 election as the Labour Party’s candidate. Both he and Abubakar eventually lost to Tinubu.
Omokri also dismissed reports that he wasn’t supposed to make comments bordering on the nation’s economic challenges, saying that he doesn’t live in the country.
While reacting to this, he said, “I’m an employer of labour in Nigeria,” saying that his critics should visit the Corporate Affairs Commission to verify.
