The emergence of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the Presidential running mate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), will not translate into automatic bloc votes from the South West for the opposition, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Thursday.
In its response, the APC simply said: “We shall meet at the polls.”
On Thursday, Osinbajo took his gospel according to the APC to the public in a bus ride.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, who spoke to the Daily Times on Thursday, expressed confidence in the chances of his party in the South West.
The choice of Osinbajo, a Christian from Ogun State, is married to a granddaughter of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who is highly revered in the geo-political zone.
According to Metuh, the PDP is a national party which has the unity of the nation as its driving force. It is also committed to taking care of every section of Nigeria without focusing on any sectional or ethnic groupings. The ruling party therefore expects to get support from all over the country.
Metuh argued that those who might hope to benefit from Yoruba ethnic sentiments in the choice of Osinbajo were the same people who denied the people of the South West the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011. He argued that it is the height of deceit for the same people to now seek to bribe the Yoruba with the position of Vice President now.
Besides, Metuh argued that presenting somebody from the South West is no guarantee of bloc votes from the zone as the people are aware that the position itself does not translate into development for them as their interest may not be accommodated by the party.
The PDP spokesman said what is important is to vote in a party that has national interest rather than sectional or ethnic considerations that can divide the country.
However, an aide to Osinbajo who pleaded anonymity, told the Daily Times last night that a shocker from the South West awaits the PDP on the electoral value of the Vice Presidential candidate who is also a senior pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a Christian denomination that has a very large membership in the geo-political zone and the rest of the country..
The aide added that Osinbajo is a popular candidate not only in South West but across Nigeria where he is held in awe for his intellectual and legal prowess.
The announcement of Osinbajo as General Muhammadu’s running mate, had caused a stir within the PDP over possible loss of the block votes of the South West to the APC.
On his tweeter handle on Thursday, Osinbajo posted a photograph showing him addressing some persons in a bus. It was not clear from the photograph if the shot was taken in a private or public bus.
He tweeted: “Rode on the bus earlier today and spoke to my fellow citizens, it was better than a thousand seminars!”
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