Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide and a key supporter of Atiku Abubakar, has sharply criticized Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate. In a recent statement, Omokri argued that Obi should have taken a cue from U.S. President Joe Biden and stepped aside for the greater good of Nigeria.
Omokri claimed that Obi’s decision to stay in the race was driven by personal ambition and “greed,” which, in his view, ultimately led to the PDP’s defeat in the presidential election. He expressed regret over his past decision to support Obi as Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 election under the PDP banner.
According to Omokri, if Obi had stepped aside, similar to how Biden chose not to run again in the U.S., the PDP might have had a better chance of winning against the APC in 2023. His comments reflect a growing frustration within Nigerian politics about strategic decisions and their impacts on election outcomes.
Reno wrote,
“Joe Biden has just done what Peter Obi ought to have done in 2023. Peter Obi had no chance in 2023, and has even less of a chance in 2027 after his misadventure where he lied that a subsisting court verdict ordered the release of Nnamdi Kanu and his leaked ‘Yes Daddy’ audio.
“Peter Obi’s only function in 2023 was as an ungrateful character, blinded by ambition, who chose to bite the hand that fed him, which led him to contest against Waziri Atiku Abubakar and, by so doing divided the opposition vote. If Obi had not contested the #NigerianElections2023, Atiku would have won.
“He should have summoned the courage and patriotism to his country, as well as loyalty to his party, that President Biden has now shown.
“Sadly, I feel so personally responsible due to my role in making that ingrate Waziri Atiku’s running mate in 2019. May God forgive me. I sincerely and penitently apologise to Waziri Atiku Abubakar. I thought I knew the man.
“Peter Obi watched the APC defeat a united opposition. He saw this and then went ahead and still divided the opposition in 2023. If united, we could not beat them, how could we have managed it divided?
“Greedy, over-ambitious, desperate, slippery, and highly manipulative. Peter Obi, Arise TV and Obi’s media team are DIRECTLY in control of the influencers who insult, abuse, and threaten others for not supporting Peter Obi on social media. He tells them who to attack.
“Just imagine! A man who could not build even one nursery, primary, secondary or university, a man under whom Onitsha became the dirtiest place on planet Earth, with the worst pollution, according to the World Health Organisation, a man under whom hundreds of young men were being killed and their bodies dumped into the Ezu River. A man under whom doctors went on strike for thirteen months. Who bought 400 SUVs for Anambra igwes, then hypocritically criticised the National Assembly for buying 400 cars for Legislators.
“This is the same man who tried to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, claiming he was a better choice than Waziri Atiku.
“Contest in 2027. If you get up to the votes you got in 2023, I vow to retire from politics permanently!”
