The Obidient Movement has responded to the statement credited to former vice president, Atiku Abubakar concerning the presidential primary election.
Atiku, a member of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, made it clear on Thursday that he would only support a younger candidate who emerged through a transparent primary.
He spoke while clarifying earlier remarks credited to him wherein he was quoted to have pledged to step down for a younger person.
Reacting, supporters of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, known as Obidients, said their principal won't be part of a primary where delegates would have to be purchased in dollars.
National Coordinator of the group and Obi’s former campaign spokesman, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, maintained that Obi would never be a party to transactional politics that other politicians had normalised.
“I’m happy Atiku is saying what he has in mind. It shows there’s something we can hold him accountable for. But Peter Obi is willing to bring new political ideology into the system
"I can say it authoritatively that an Obi will never go into a primary election where he has to buy out the delegates. We know that is the norm in other camps.
“It is a fact that in Nigeria of today, delegates in every primary are being purchased. It is even in dollars and not naira. And for those of us who want to give hope to the younger generation, who may not have stolen or receive so much money from governors’ purse, how do you encourage them?” He told Punch Newspapers.
NATIONAL POST reports that Obi, a key member of the opposition coalition is yet to resign his membership of the Labour Party.
