A public affairs analyst and media consultant, Ambrose Igboke, has said ex-Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi’s defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is good for Nigeria’s democracy.

Mr Igboke, chairman of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria, Enugu State chapter, stated this on Wednesday in Enugu.

Mr Obi, alongside some prominent political leaders from the South-East geopolitical zone, on Wednesday defected to the ADC to form a stronger opposition party in the country.

Reacting to the development, Mr Igboke said the move was not only good for the country’s democracy but would strengthen its opposition parties.

He noted that opposition had been weak as Nigeria was gradually sliding into a one-party system where governors and other elected members were joining the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“So it was a little bit of concern for many Nigerians that we don’t have any vibrant opposition anymore and then, Mr Peter Obi has been the face of opposition in Nigeria since after the 2023 general elections.

“A lot of people looked up to him to provide direction for the opposition; having lost, people don’t believe too much in Atiku Abubakar being part of the old order.

“This, to me, is like a breath of fresh air in the polity. So for Peter Obi to move to ADC, he is bringing a lot of political currency into the party. He’s bringing to the ADC a lot of followership,” Mr Igboke said.

According to him, Mr Obi will be bringing his base, the Obedient movement, to the ADC, and unfortunately, the Labour Party (LP) will be missing Mr Obi because he brought a lot of political vivacity into the party.

He stated that Mr Obi left LP due to the inability of the party to manage its own internal crisis, adding that his coming on board would bring life to ADC, as he had consulted widely.

“So we look forward to a vibrant interface and intervention for the ADC in 2027, not only at the national level, but also at the state level.

“Let ADC get a lot of bigwigs that can contest at the governorship level, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly, so that what LP did in 2023, they may be able to surpass that kind of trend in 2027,” he said.

Mr Igboke, however, called on Ndigbo to be careful about political choices or how they would twist the narrative as an ethnic bloc.

He warned that Mr Obi was not going to serve only the Igbo, stressing that if they would project him as a political bigwig to rule Nigeria, they should tone down the narrative and also wear political options.

“They should ask what ADC is bringing to the table for the South-East political bloc. So I think we should be talking more as a South-East political bloc than as an Igbo.

“Secondly, ADC must give that presidential ticket to Peter Obi; otherwise, what happened to the Peoples Democratic Party in 2022 will start happening again. It is because when it was the turn for Ndigbo to produce somebody in PDP, the PDP then decided to play a gamble with it and deny the South-East that had given them all the support since 1999.

“So I hope this will not repeat itself, and Peter Obi should not take the vice presidential slot for anybody because if he agrees to be vice president to Atiku Abubakar, I’m sorry, his political future will be doomed,” he stated. 
(NAN)