Since last week following the defection of former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), there has been an upsurge of support for the former bank chairman, especially across the social media platforms.
It was reported that Obi pulled out of the PDP after he uncovered plans to frustrate his effort to clinch the party’s ticket for the presidential election.
Consequently, several members of the party have followed suit, including its erstwhile bigwigs, aspirants and several supporters, all for the Labour Party, to give Obi the needed supoort.
The first of the bigwigs in Anambra state was Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, PDP’s candidate in the November 2021 governorship election in Anambra. Obi gave Ozigbo the support that made him clinch the party’s ticket last year, even though he did not win the election.
Apart from Ozigbo, Hon Valentine Ayika, Hon Tony Nwoye and Hon George Ozodinobi, all former members of the National Assembly, are among those who also withdrew from their aspirations and resigned from the PDP.
Aside these, several other prominent politicians in the state are expected to dump PDP in the coming days.
“Several more people will leave before the end of this week. It is true that PDP has problems, but the problem of PDP in Anambra state is far more than that of the party at the national level.
“That is why they have not held a primary for any office portfolio, even up till now.
“The plot is for all Obi’s supporters to decamp en masse, and join the Labour Party, from where they will give PDP a fight,” it was gathered.
As things stand now, if online support can win presidential election in Nigeria, Peter Obi is already comfortably coasting home to victory in the presidential election.
For example, on all the social media platforms in the country, there have been a preponderance of support for Obi by Nigerians who believe he is the best man for the job.
There have been comedy skits, and political posts by ordinary Nigerians who have shown support for the former governor.
Among the social media posts are some that stated that even if Peter Obi joins ‘end of the year party, ‘end of discussion party’, ‘party after party’, they would still vote for him.
Such cult followership is enough to send jitters down the spine of the other political parties, especially as during the first 48 hours of his defection to LP, the server of the party’s website was reported to have crashed due to hewvy traffic of people scampering to get registered as members of the political party.
There have, however, been discordant views on the followership Obi is gaining on the internet, as some people have stated that such following on social media may not translate to physical votes during the election.
But a rights activist, Ejike Mba, opined that it is from forming opinions on social media that people build the determination on which and where to vote.
He also stated that such open declaration for Obi on the social media may most likely influence people who do not have a stand yet, while also stating that there is absolutely no truth in the insinuation that social media votes do not trans form to physical votes for candidates.
He said, “If you ask me, the best thing that has happened this year is the acceptance of Mr Peter Obi to run for president, and as if that is not enough, he quietly exited the PDP and moved to a less known party when it became obvious that PDP was bent on frustrating him. I’m a supporter of Peter Obi, and there is no way people can tell me that the kind of cult following he is enjoying today can not translate to positive support during the election.
“Let me tell you, the people that are not happy are people that are in the ruling political party, APC. If you are someone who uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even WhatsApp, you will see the kind of comment people are making about the personality of Obi. In 2015, APC and it’s candidate, Muhammadu Buhari had the same kind of acceptance in the social media, but the only difference was that while the APC and their propaganda arm induced people to make post that were positive about Buhari, the case of Peter Obi is that after visiting a lot of places on the platform of the PDP and also presenting his case and arguing in television shows, people today see him as the man who cuts the shape of the kind of president that can bring hope to this country.
“Have you not seen Peter Obi being mobbed at airports and other public places? Don’t you see the kind of support people are showing to him? The good thing is that unlike the APC, which stage-managed the kind of Buhari they wanted us to believe in, especially through social media influencers who they paid, the case of Obi is that genuinely, people are making positive videos, comments and posts about him because they are convinced about what they want.”
Speaking on the possibility of Obi’s support base which is the youth staying with him through the election, a journalist, Mrs Ify Nzebo said: “Most of the fight is for Obi to fight. Just like people have been saying ‘there is no polling unit in social media’, I still believe that with all the campaigns, people are more politically aware today than they were in 2015 and in 2019. A lot of people have realized the power of the PVC, and they are going all out for it.
“I’m sure the youths will come out enmasse to vote for Obi as they have also been supporting him, but what I’m definitely not sure of is that any of those youths will want to stay behind and protect their votes as they usually say. As for coming out to vote, people will vote Obi enmasse, but if in the case opposition political party decides to use violent thugs to rig the election, most of the youths will rather want to be safe. Thankfully, from what we have heard, the new Electoral Act may not permit such use of violence to rig elections this time.”
On the willingness of the north to relinquish power, Mba said: “Many people have been talking about the willingness of the northern oligarchs to cede power to the south, and they too have shown it that they are not willing. That is why after eight years of two tenure, the north is still not willing to have power zoned to the south. PDP has also confirmed it by electing Atiku Abubakar as their candidate, making Peter Obi’s exit from the party a very good move.
“But one thing I know is that, this could be the very opportunity for the real Nigerian people to choose their own president, irrespective of the options placed before them by a cabal. I’m already sure that the APC will also elect a northerner as candidate, but it is up to the voting public to choose who to vote for. Already, Peter Obi is sitting pretty because this will be the first time that someone outside the two big parties is posing a threat to the big parties, and also being positively believed to have the chance to win.”
