Peter Obi is facing accusations of “tribalism” by former key members of his campaign team. Abdulrahman Chindo, the previous Chairman of the Labour Party in Sokoto State has accused the presidential aspirant and his running mate of sidelining indigenes of Sokoto in campaign activities. In the North East and North West states, campaigners have defected to the PDP, citing similar reasons.
In a voice note, Abdulrahman stated that the campaign funds were entrusted to a Christian Igbo man who was also asked to chair rallies held in the majorly Muslim, Hausa populated state. Similar arrangements have been noted in Zamfara, Sokoto, and Kebbi states. Despite conversations with Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, LP’s running mate, there has been no resolution.
Following the conviction of former Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council member, Doyin Okupe for money laundering, these accusations could reignite concerns of impropriety and misuse of funds in the Labour Party camp.
Principally, the ethno-regional focus reiterates that Obi’s LP modus operandi, despite the vibrancy and fervour of the ObiDatti campaign and its supporters, is cut from the same cloth as the other capitalist political parties. The ideological basis required to divest from regional and tribal predilections for the sake of collective advancement does not exist with Obi’s vice grip on the Labour Party. Therefore, political mobilisation of ethnicity or “tribalism”, as it is often called, and underlying religious intolerance persist in the Labour Party despite its roots in the pan-Nigerian working class movement.
by Iretimide Esther OSUNYIKANMI
