• NDC set to inaugurate Presidential Campaign Council
• Anambra govt dares Obi to quit presidential race

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), declaring that insecurity, hunger, economic hardship and other challenges facing Nigerians make the party’s Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso ticket a patriotic alternative ahead of the 2027 elections.

This was as NDC said its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) would be inaugurated soon, explaining that the delay was due to the travel schedule of its presidential candidate, Obi.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Government has challenged Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, accusing him of breaking his promises on debt and payment of workers’ salaries.

Lawal, who was formally received into the NDC in Abuja yesterday, urged Nigerians concerned about the country’s worsening condition to support the party’s presidential ticket to achieve a “noble patriotic objective”.

The former SGF said, “Anybody at all in Nigeria that has the interest of our country at heart and has sympathy for the suffering in our country, enabled by insecurity, economic degradation, hunger, ignorance and disease, will have no choice but to join a party that presents Obi and Kwankwaso.

“It is now convincing to partner NDC to see to the fulfilment of this very noble patriotic objective of installing Obi as the President, and Kwankwaso as the Vice President in 2027.”

Receiving the former SGF, NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, immediately handed him a major campaign responsibility, naming him Coordinator of Campaigns for the North-East and North-Central.

Dickson described Lawal as an experienced political organiser, activist and mobiliser, saying his experience would strengthen the party’s campaign machinery in the two regions.

He urged political actors to play by the rules, alleging that attacks on opposition politicians were linked to concerns about the NDC’s growing strength ahead of the 2027 elections.

NDC said it had already developed a comprehensive campaign structure and timetable since August, but was awaiting final inputs from Obi and Kwankwaso before unveiling the council.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, yesterday, the NDC said the presidential candidate and his running mate had been given a free hand to nominate key campaign officials, in consultation with the party leadership.

The positions to be nominated by Obi and Kwankwaso include the Director-General of the campaign, Deputy Director-General (North), Spokesperson, Deputy Spokesperson, Head of New Media, Finance Director and Deputy Finance Director.

The party said the full organogram of the campaign structure had been made available to both candidates since August, while nominations had also been received from stakeholders across the country.

It said the inauguration, initially planned for the first week of September, was postponed because of Obi’s travel schedule.

According to the NDC, arrangements are also being concluded for campaign funding and fundraising, with the candidates expected to spearhead the process.

IN a statement posted on its official X account yesterday, Anambra New Media Office asked, “When will Peter Obi quit presidential campaign?”

The government recalled that Obi had vowed to quit the presidential race if it was proven that he left Anambra in debt.

It also recalled that Obi had pledged, while on seat as governor, to resign if workers were not paid on time.

The state government claimed that he broke both promises.

It said, “He (Obi) vowed to quit the presidential race if it was proven that he left Anambra in debt. As governor, he vowed to resign if workers weren’t paid on time. He broke both. He left office in 2014 with heavier arrears.”

The government accompanied the post with a letter dated April 25, 2006, and allegedly signed by Chuks Iloegbunam, then Chief of Staff to Obi.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had challenged Obi to honour his pledge and quit the race, saying the Anambra government had confronted him with facts and figures.

But Obi’s media aide, Idris Zekeri Jnr, described the Presidency’s intervention as that of a “meddlesome interloper” and said a team of former officials who worked with Obi was preparing a detailed response to the substantive issues raised by the Anambra government.