By Newsmata
Following the gale of defection in Delta State, Segun Sowunmi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has intensified his call on Peter Obi to rejoin the crisis-ridden party.
Ahead of the 2023 general election, Obi dumped the PDP for the Labour Party, where he subsequently emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.
Despite contesting on a platform initially considered a fringe party, Obi, the PDP’s Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, gave the ruling APC and the main opposition party, the PDP, a run for their money.
However, given his performance in the 2023 election, Sowunmi, while speaking on Arise Television on Thursday, appealed to the former Governor of Anambra State to rejoin the PDP to wrest power from the APC in 2027.
Sowunmi said Obi became a recognised political figure at the national level because the PDP gave him a chance to prove himself.
“You have to first of all understand that Peter is our gift to the national play. Before he came to our party, he used to play only in a small party called APGA. Then, we brought him and made him special adviser, or some kind of adviser to Jonathan, which was his first foray into the national play. Then we made him a vice-presidential candidate in 2019 with Atiku. That was what launched him into the big national space,” Sowunmi recounted.
Sowunmi said Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election showed what the former Labour Party candidate can do, stressing that the PDP could see the numbers he would pull if he rejoined the party.
“Now that he has gone to try to be president, we can all recognize and say, Okay, we see the numbers. It is up to him to do whatever he can. If we did not give Peter that chance, how would we have known that Peter can do this,” Sowunmi queried.
The opposition party chieftain explained that the PDP wants Obi to return because the party cannot afford to enter into a splintered arrangement that would lead to another defeat. (Vanguard but headline reframed)