A South-West Political Group, the Conscience Bureau (CB), on Monday, declared that only the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, could be trusted with the onerous task of salvaging Nigeria at this period.

It called on Nigerians to discountenance a recent endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stating that Nigerians must be wary of such an endorsement.

The group recalled that when the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and its other leaders went to seek Obasanjo’s endorsement for then General Mohammadu Buhari’s presidential ambition on December 13, 2013, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, acting on his premonition, said that such an endorsement could lead the nation to a shipwreck.

A statement by Conscience Bureau’s General Secretary, Mr Said Ologuneru, said going by what Nigeria and Nigerians had gone through between 2015 and now, under the APC Presidency, it was apparent that the nation Nigeria had experienced a shipwreck, as Soyinka predicted, warning Nigerians not to allow a repeat of that horrible experience.

“We are under no illusion therefore that Obi’s endorsement by Obasanjo this time is tottering on the same lane as when the APC designated Obasanjo as its navigator in 2013, a development which Prof. Soyinka described as heading for a shipwreck.”

The group said that only a shipwreck could take the Nigerian Naira from N190 to one US dollar in 2015 to N780 in 2022 or a litre of petrol from N85 in 2015 to N350 in December 2022.

It added that its warning to Nigerians was to avoid another shipwreck, “which the endorsement of the LP candidate portends,” noting that Nigerians must reject any attempt to perpetuate the APC’s evil reign beyond 2023.

“As widely reported by the national newspapers in Nigeria on December 23, 2013, the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Soyinka, had noted that Nigeria might be heading for a “shipwreck” after the APC said it was choosing Chief Obasanjo as its “Navigator” in its touted effort to wrest power from then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

“As nature had it, the “Navigator” led the APC into Aso Rock Villa, and President Muhammadu Buhari replaced Goodluck Jonathan. Today, we all are witnesses to the wreckage the nation’s ship had experienced,” the group said.

The group further noted that Soyinka’s warning, which Nigerians refused to heed in the 2015 presidential election, eventually led the country into troubled waters as evident in the country’s ailing economy, growing insecurity and hardship being faced by Nigerians today.

It warned that it was important for the electorate to save the country from another shipwreck ahead of the 2023 general election, saying that Nigerians must look beyond the APC, which Obasanjo endorsed in the past and Peter Obi, as both could not help the country in its present state.

According to the Conscience Bureau, the huge challenges now facing the country after eight years of Obasanjo-recommended administration should be an advice to Nigerians not to follow another sentimental endorsement from the former president, just as they should not allow individuals such as Tinubu, who brought Buhari’s misguided administration upon Nigeria, to step in the saddle of leadership.

The group charged the electorate to save Nigeria by electing the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, whom it described as possessing the wealth of experience and know-how that could transform the country and halt its fast-paced traffic towards the edge of the precipice.

The group said: “It is curious that the same Tinubu, who led Buhari and other leaders of the newly-formed All Progressives Congress (APC) to Abeokuta in 2013, to consult former President Obasanjo, describing him as the ‘Navigator’ and the ‘political compass’ of APC’s false attempt to rescue Nigeria, could turn around to describe Obasanjo’s take on the Nigerian polity as ‘worthless and meaningless.’

“Nigerians have to be wary of Tinubu, APC and Obasanjo, who colluded in 2015 to bring the clueless APC administration and the resultant hardship upon the country.

“This time round, Obasanjo has endorsed Obi, but he appears to be working secretly to foist the APC on Nigerians, in an avowed commitment to lead Nigeria to destruction.

“Atiku represents Nigeria’s best opportunity to get out of the economic doldrums. He remains the best and most prepared candidate on offer.

“The former Vice-President represents the best opportunity for Nigeria to exit the economic woes foisted on it through Obasanjo’s miscalculated endorsement in 2013, which brought in General Buhari, and the only way APC would not continue in office beyond May 2023.

“The Conscience Bureau recalls that Tinubu had, in 2013, told Obasanjo that he and APC leaders were in Abeokuta because of Obasanjo’s courage and that to realise a stable Nigeria, they had resolved to make him their Navigator.

“It is hilarious that the same Tinubu could rubbish Obasanjo’s presumed courage at this time and his choice of Obi. The whole development points to the error of judgment and double standard of both Obasanjo and APC. They both cannot be trusted to salvage Nigeria at this auspicious period.”

The group further wondered how Obasanjo could allow emotions to cloud his judgment at this period when all hands are supposed to be on deck in the task of retaking Nigeria from the APC buccaneers, saying: “It is curious how Baba Obasanjo could even say he is endorsing Peter Obi. This was the Obi that could not run the Anambra State chapter of the PDP. Is that not another ploy to pave the way for Tinubu, who designated him as a navigator in 2013?

“In the last governorship election in Anambra State, Obi was given the leadership of the party and instead of going for a popular candidate, he went for a rookie and lost woefully, which was why he was yanked off the leadership of the party ahead of the 2022 national convention.

“It’s also a clear signal that he failed to learn from his experiment that brought the Willie Obiano, the man he imposed on Anambra as gov, who eventually turned his policies upside down and became his arch enemy. So, that tells a lot about his experience and the choices he will make if elected to higher office.”