According to a former Presidential Adviser named Reno Omokri, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kankwaso of the Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai would not agree to contest with Peter Obi for President in 2027 election. This was said by Omokri in a statement released on Wednesday, 15 May, 2024 on his X account.

It should be noted that Obi met on Tuesday, 14 May 2024, in Abuja with Atiku, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and Sule Lamido, a former Jigawa Governor. The meeting’s specifics were not immediately known.

However, Omokri stated that no man of standing and sound mind in the North would consent to run with the former Governor of Anambra State for the Presidency in 2027 election. Omokri emphasized that Obi is “right now tainted” and questioned the significance of his reconciliation with Northern powerbrokers in the PDP.

Have you forgotten about Deborah Samuel, he asked? Not at all, naturally. You remember the incident clearly since you are a Christian and you feel sympathy for her because she was murdered on blasphemy allegations by a hardline Northern Muslim mob.

“Now, carry out this exercise in emotional intelligence. How do you think any Muslim, Northern or Southern, will forget a man who was caught on camera preparing a religious war against you, if you cannot and will not forget Deborah Samuel? How? It goes beyond a single Game of Thrones episode to “The North Remembers.” It is a true way of life in the northern part of Nigeria. They can recall things like elephants.

They read the Quran, which forbids them from doing so and refers to these individuals as Munafiq. You are aware of Nigeria’s sensitive attitude toward religion. And you believe that the Muslim Ummah will overlook and forgive Peter Obi’s remarks? In six weeks, Peter Obi will turn sixty-three. When people get that old, they don’t change. In particular considering that Peter Obi has never acknowledged or expressed regret over the tape. Rather than answering directly, Obi sidestepped Charles Aniagolu’s three questions about whether or not he was on tape.

“And you believe that Muslims are that gullible as to forgive such a man when you mix his Yes Daddy tape with his yelling, “Church, take back your country,” as he jumps from church to church? About South-South votes, Obi won’t receive them in 2027 or have any say over their course. As long as Tinubu completes the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, or gets extremely near to it.

Yes, out of politeness, people will consent to meet with him. Some will do this in an attempt to persuade him to cast his bloc vote for them. However, no sane Northerner will run beside Obi. Not Rabiu Kwankwaso, Waziri Atiku, or Nasir-El-Rufai. “You can touch the North and be forgiven, for Arewa.” However, you cannot approach Islam and expect forgiveness.

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