We Thought Obidient Movement Was a Joke – Labaran Maku

Labaran Maku, a former information and national orientation minister said that a lot of people saw the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi, and the ‘Obidients’ movement as a joke.

Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra, surprised the country when he emerged as a third-force candidate in the just concluded presidential election. His political party was initially described as lacking political structure, however, the LP candidate who enjoys a huge youth following scored over six million votes and won in 11 states to finish third in the election.

Mr Maku who was on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, answering questions about the outcome of the 2023 elections, admitted that the opposition politicians never gave the LP candidate and his supporters a chance.

According to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain  what happened in the presidential election was a wave of young people, the ‘Obidients’ that everyone  took for granted and was thinking Peter Obi was a joke and a candidate with nowhere to go.

“So, both PDP and the APC, we were thinking this man does not have structure. He will not be able to do so much,” he said.

He admitted that young people proved them wrong and put up an unprecedented approach in the 2023 presidential elections.

“But the young people seized the initiative from the politicians. And for the first time – what we saw in Nasarawa, Edo, several other places, and in Delta State where the PDP vice presidential candidate comes from – we saw that young people were serious about what they were doing and they took advantage of social media to project a programme which has shaken the nation.” He added.

The PDP chieftain who hailed from Nasarawa State said that the party lost the presidential election in the state to Peter Obi of the Labour Party but claimed that the ruling of the  All Progressives Congress (APC)’s win in the governorship poll was faulty.

According to him, the results of the governorship election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were fabricated.