The President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has once again shown to the world that he is the master of the game called politics in Nigeria.
Going by a recent revelation by the Labour Party, LP’s Governorship candidate in Oyo State, Tawfiq Akinwale, it appears the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, indirectly funded the 2023 campaign of the LP’s candidate, Peter Obi without him knowing or suspecting.
Akinwale disclosed this, on Wednesday, while appearing as a Guest on 101.7 YES FM Radio Programme, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He revealed that the President-elect was the person who asked popular Professor of Political-Economics, Pat Utomi to step down for Peter Obi in the buildup to the 2023 general election.
The LP governorship aspirant, who spoke in Yoruba language, alleged that Obi received campaign funds from Prof. Utomi, whom he described as Tinubu’s “son.”
He said “In the buildup to the 2023 elections, Obi who had purchased the nomination form of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, suddenly announced his exit from the party.
“Initially, Pat Utomi had secured the LP’s Presidential ticket, but when Obi said he resigned from the PDP and joined the LP, Bola Tinubu, a master political strategist, quickly told Utomi, that everyone knows to be his son to step down for Obi.
“The president-elect saw in Obi’s presidential bid, a good chance to reduce the winning chances of the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar.
“What Peter Obi didn’t know is much more than what he knows, he started collecting campaign funds from Utomi, while Tinubu was giving the money to Utomi.
“This went on until Obi’s Presidential campaign got to a stage it went beyond target. Obi was used without him knowing,” Akinwale said after announcing his departure from the party.
Obi defected to the LP after resigning his membership of the PDP and also withdrew from the Presidential race under the party.
The former governor of Anambra State consequently joined the race for the LP’s presidential ticket, while Prof. Utomi, in June 2022 stepped down for him to emerge as the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, unopposed in Asaba, Delta State.