The 2023 presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart from the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, have downplayed speculations about their plans for the 2027 presidential election.
The clarification comes after a breakfast meeting between the two in Yola, Adamawa State capital led to speculations.
According to Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, the meeting was simply a reunion of two old friends. Ibe explained that Obi was invited to be the keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) and the 16th Founder’s Day.
The university was founded by Atiku Abubakar.
I’ve said, “Let us not jump the gun. The fact is that Obi accepted to be the keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary of AUN and the 16th Founder’s Day, which was a milestone. Obi is part of that celebration.
“The university was founded by Atiku Abubakar, who was more like his host. But people think it is because of politics. We all know our friends. The truth is that politics cannot separate friends.
“So Atiku invited him to breakfast and from there, they went for the programme. I think that is what happened.”
Meanwhile, Obi’s media aide, Ibrahim Umar, also corroborated Ibe’s statement, saying the meeting had no political undertone. “There was nothing like that. They just invited him (Obi) to deliver a speech there. It has nothing to do with politics,” Umar said.
Despite these denials, speculation is rife about a potential merger between the two parties ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Some analysts believe that a united opposition front could pose a significant challenge to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Both Atiku and Obi ran on a joint ticket in 2019.