The Obidient Movement in Imo State has dismissed reports linking the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the visit of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai to the state at the weekend.
In a statement signed by its coordinator, Anukanti Vigilius Chukwuka, the group said El-Rufai’s visit was for the Odenigbo Lecture, an annual cultural intellectual event organised by the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, and not a political gathering.
According to the movement, several false claims have circulated suggesting Obi invited El-Rufai, but the clarification stressed otherwise. “To set the record straight, the function El-Rufai attended is not a political gathering but a cultural intellectual event called the Odenigbo lecture that is organised annually by the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, and it is usually open to all dignitaries across the country,” the statement read.
The group noted that El-Rufai was hosted in Imo by Hon. Nnaemeka Madagwu, a former Speaker of the State Assembly and one-time Transport Secretary during El-Rufai’s tenure as Minister of the FCT.
It also explained that Obi was not present at this year’s Odenigbo lecture, although he had attended previous editions as governor of Anambra. Instead, Obi only honoured a private dinner held in El-Rufai’s name. “Obi honoured the invitation to the dinner in honour of El-Rufai, his colleague in the coalition, because he saw it as a good Igbo spirit of not forgetting our benefactors,” the coordinator said.
The movement further described allegations tying Obi to El-Rufai’s appearance in Owerri as the work of political mischief makers. “Peter Obi was not even at this year’s lecture, even though he attended previous ones when he was governor, but the mischief makers are everywhere dragging Obi’s name as the man who invited El Rufai,” it noted.
Reaffirming Obi’s political vision, the group said, “Our principal is desirous to create a new Nigeria that is POssible, and is willing to do it with all well-meaning Nigerians.” #Obidient Movement
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