No opposition to Peter Obi’s choice as VP – Osita Chidoka

Osita Chidoka

A former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka, has said there was no opposition to the nomination of Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Chidoka, who is the special adviser on strategy and external engagement to PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, made the assertion on Wednesday in Awka.

He blamed the initial disquiet by some stakeholders on the channel through which they might have received the announcement.

The PDP chieftain said the meeting of party stakeholders in Enugu was not to oppose the nomination of Obi but to discuss why the presidential candidate did not take them into confidence.

He said there was nothing to worry about as the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who is presently out of the country, had said he would meet with the stakeholders of the south-east on his choice.

According to him, varied discussions went on but none was about Peter Obi as a wrong choice, rather it was all around the choice of those other candidates consulted before coming to a decision.

“It seems the social media announcement of his choice as the vice-presidential candidate didn’t go down well with the political leadership in the south-east.

“At Enugu, after sampling opinion of key stakeholders, I was certain there was no plan to scuttle Obi’s nomination rather it was a reaction to perceived slight by our candidate.

“The media frenzy was a storm in a teacup as there was no discussion around the preference or otherwise of Obi, a former Anambra governor as vice presidential candidate,” he said in the statement.

Chidoka said the leadership of PDP would remain focused in their preparations for victory at the polls and set the country on the trajectory of growth recorded under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.