Peter Obi should stop dictating to Labour Party – Farotimi

Foremost lawyer Dele Farotimi has warned Peter Obi to steer clear of the political impasse currently rocking the Labour Party and allow party officials to devise a democratic means of resolving their differences.

In an interview with ARISE TV, Farotimi said that the former presidential aspirant is not in a position to dictate terms of solution to the party, warning that Labour Party stalwarts, Kenneth Okonkwo and officials, are in a better position to determine political tactics that will work for the party.

“What is happening in the Labour Party is none of my business. I am not a politician but a citizen of a country not yet born. Peter Obi is a man I respect a lot; I don’t expect him to dictate what is happening in the Labour Party. When did he join them? If Labour is a party, they will find a democratic means of resolving their differences. Peter Obi is not in a position to dictate their terms of solution to them, and I didn’t expect him to.

“Kenneth Okonkwo has a different understanding of what Peter Obi’s response should have been. He is a politician just like Peter Obi; they are the ones who will decide the political tactics that will work for them as a party,” said Farotimi, who is a member of the Citizens’ Rally Against Oppression (RAMINBA).

Farotimi maintained that Peter Obi remains the best candidate because of his mass appeal and capacity to unite the country with a vision for a better future.

“As of today, if there were to be a presidential election, Peter Obi is the one I would put forward because I believe in his capacity to lead Nigeria in a non-violent manner to the evolution I desire. I wish to see Nigeria turn around, and I don’t want to see that happening violently. I believe Peter Obi has the mass appeal and capacity to unite this country for a better future; that is the basis. As of today, I don’t know what he might do to make me change my mind tomorrow; I’m a free agent. Maybe if he now chooses to align himself with people I cannot work with, on account of that, then I can say, ‘Okay, we cannot work together.’ Barring any dramatic change, I remain very solidly behind Peter Obi if he is going to run, that is if we have reformed our electoral system because I’m not interested in any election without a reformed electoral system,” he said.

Reacting to Kenneth Okonkwo’s views that the likes of President Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi should step aside from the 2027 election, Farotimi declared: “Peter Obi did not lose the last election; Peter Obi won the election, but INEC and the judiciary performed their magic. But come 2027, there will be no election if our electoral system is not reformed to ensure that BVAS and electronic transmission from polling stations become compulsory. I will not bother to participate. It means a Tinubu who was not in power ran, slashed, and grabbed it already has the election written. A Tinubu that appointed Wike’s man as election commissioner? The most violent election rigger in the land today is Wike. There are multiple videos and audios where Wike is enforcing his political will on Rivers State over the general will of the people.

“My name remains Dele Farotimi; there are more than enough online materials showing Wike violently suppressing the rights of the people of Rivers State to elect their chosen representatives. I am saying that this person has already been appointed as electoral resident commissioner since Tinubu came to power.”

He stressed that there will be no free and fair election in 2027 if there is no consequential reformation of the country’s electoral system, starting from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“How can you be talking about a free and fair election in 2027 without a consequential reformation of the electoral act? That the same madness that took place in 2023 will repeat in 2027. If we do not tell ourselves the truth, how can we hope things will change? We should be unapologetic and unrepentant in pushing the truth into their eyes. I told you, the truth is like a sword and sheath; I love wielding it as a sword and smashing it on their heads, and I don’t care how they feel.

“I don’t know how long anyone is going to live, but I cannot live my life toeing the opinion and sentiment of worthless human beings who wrecked the lives of millions with their actions and inactions.

“We cannot have the 2027 election in the presence of multiple madness around if there is a corrupt INEC chairman who came on national TV and declared, ‘Go to court.’ We can’t be having that and be talking about 2027. If there is an election worthy of its name, I will be backing Peter Obi, that is if we have a functional state,” he said.