A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Hon. Chille Igbawua, has said that the candidates from the party and other opposition platforms who lost the bye-elections in various states on Saturday were not people nurtured by either Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar or Nasir El-Rufai.
He noted that it would have been a different case if these candidates were directly nurtured by political leaders.
According to him, structures in elections were important, but personality was equally very important, insisting that it would have been a different case if someone like Peter Obi was on the ballot on Saturday.
He noted that Peter Obi had no structure in 2023 and was able to win the presidency in 12 states, including Lagos, adding that personality brings results in elections.
Recall that a presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had mocked opposition figures following the poor performance of the ADC, in the just concluded by-elections.
In a post on X on Monday morning, Onanuga shared a picture of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai with the caption: “How is the market now?”
DAILY POST reported that the opposition leaders, who are targeting President Bola Tinubu’s removal in 2027, participated in the election via the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to test their popularity.
However, the All Progressives Congress, APC, cleared the majority of the seats, with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, recording some victories.
“When Peter Obi contested for the presidency, he didn’t have a structure and he won twelve states.
“But does he have 12 governors in the states? No,” he said in an interview on Arise News.
“Personality is important. Sometimes the structure is important but the personality is also critically important.
“Peter Obi didn’t have structures yet he was able to win the election in twelve states, including Lagos State.
“What we should understand is that personalities are critical in elections. Now, if Peter Obi were on the ballot during this Saturday’s election, you’ll see a different thing.
“If El-Rufai and Atiku or Tambuwal were on the ballot, it would be a different thing. But these people weren’t on the ballot so the image and political image they carry may not go for candidates that they did not nurture into the election.
“That should be very very clear. And the performance of the ADC in this election was a wonderful performance in the sense that this was a party that was virtually silent until the coalition came about.”