The group declares Peter Obi has not yet been endorsed as its presidential candidate.
Peter Obi.
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and ex-Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. (Punch)
Lawal, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the group in a statement titled “Why we have chosen to endorse the Obi/Datti ticket” declared the group’s support for the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Lawal said the group decided to support Obi because the APC Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket is a ploy to sow a seed of religious discord among Nigerians.
However, Dogara and seven other members of the group have dismissed the statement by the former SGF, saying the group has not endorsed Obi as its presidential candidate.
The group in a statement said the position canvassed by Lawal was solely his, adding that the group’s position would be made known to the public at an interfaith event to be held very soon.
The statement reads in part: “We want to draw the attention of the general public to the recent position canvassed by our Chairman, B.D Lawal as the position of our group.
“We wish to state that necessary consultations have been concluded, and based on manifestly unassailable empirical data, the group is poised to adopt a position which will be made known to the public at an interfaith event to be held very soon.
“Suffice it to say that no one in the group, including the chairman, has been mandated to speak to the public about our position at this material time. Based on our modus operandi, our position was meant to be presented to the general public at the event above referred to. That has not changed.
The statement was jointly signed by Yakubu Dogara, Simon Achuba, Albert Atiwurcha, Prof Doknan Sheni, Mela Nunge (SAN), Gen. Ishaya Bauka (rtd), Prof Ibrahim Haruna and Mrs Leah Olusiyi.
