Renown Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, says Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, still sounds like a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), months after he swapped the latter for the former.
A former governor of southeastern Anambra State, Obi has endeared himself to Nigeria’s growing army of tech and social media savvy young people, who now label themselves ‘OBIdient.’
Falana raised the concern while appearing on AriseTV’s Prime Time programme recently.
The activist and lawyer also added that ideologically, there isn’t any difference between the two dominant political parties in the land.
“Ideologically, there isn’t a difference between some of these parties. The difference between APC and PDP is like six and half a dozen in terms of the solutions to any of the problems confronting the country.
“So, I think it’s too close to call for now. In my own case, I’m studying the political situation…I know some of the candidates and I know they aren’t going to change significantly,” he said.
Asked whether Peter Obi will offer anything different, seeing as he was a ranking member of the PDP for many years, Falana said; “I am very reluctant to discuss individuals, but since Mr. Peter Obi is contesting under the Labour Party, he has to study the manifesto and programme of the Labour Party.
“I listen to him going around, he’s still talking essentially like a PDP member. So, if he’s now embracing the Labour Party, he must familiarize himself with the programme and manifesto of the Labour Party.
“And I understand that he has embraced the Nigerian Workers’ Charter of Demands which is based on Chapter 2 of the constitution. So he must go out there and let the world know that now that he has moved to the Labour Party, he has forgotten the past and now he is identifying with Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people.
“So that’s the challenge before him.”
Obi was recently photographed with PDP chieftains and governors in London. He was the running mate of PDP Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 general elections.
Atiku, who has since nicked the PDP Presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 elections, was one of the PDP chieftains Obi wined and dined with in London.