By Yusuf Mohammed
Demola Olarewaju, the Special Assistant on Digital Media Strategy to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in an interview with NEWSWATCH plus, was of the view that voting for Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, might help Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The experienced public relations strategist is calling on Nigerians not to be distracted by the popularity of Obi, insisting that the only way to stop the APC from retaining power is by voting for the PDP on Saturday.
His words “Peter Obi is a good man in his own right and if he had scaled nationally by now, a political dilemma might be understandable but the truth is that as of today so close to the election, Mr. Peter Obi has no pathway to victory. And I say that with every sense of respect and responsibility to him and his followers.”
“If they insist on proving a point with a vote for him, it might just help Tinubu more but we believe that the politics of the situation is understood by the majority of voters and on Saturday, everyone will cast their vote for PDP and help us remove the APC from power.”
When asked why he has been with the PDP through thick and thin, Olarewaju said ‘’the PDP for me is a party that embraces all Nigerians irrespective of ethnicity. Growing up, I was raised to see the Igbos and the Hausas or Fulanis around our family as equals also and when I chose to join politics, no other party fulfilled that criteria for me. AD/AC/ACN was a sectional party for the Yorubas, APP/ANPP/CPC was also a sectional party for the North. PDP was the only party where ethnic equality and inclusive governance was the ideology and so it was a natural choice for me.
‘’Nothing since then has changed. ACN merged with ANPP and CPC to create APC which then became a Yoruba and North alliance. PDP is the only party where every Nigerian is a Nigerian and no Nigerian is considered more or less Nigerian than any other Nigerian.’’
The public relations expert is confident that Atiku will win this weekend and believes his principal will carry Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic and religious background along.
‘’When Atiku Abubakar wins, I would like every Nigerian to understand that his administration will involve every ethnicity and that the outcome of the election is not a rejection of any ethnicity or religion but the due reward of a man who has always stood up to support Nigeria, even in the face of strong opposition by his own ethnicity.
‘’Atiku will do well for all Nigerians, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender or language.’’
