Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has issued a stark warning to Peter Obi, stating that any political alliance with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would cause Obi’s 6 million votes from the 2023 presidential election to “vanish.” In an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics,’ Keyamo dismissed the ongoing talks of a merger between the opposition leaders as a project that lacks electoral viability and is “dead on arrival.”
According to Keyamo, three key demographic factors were responsible for Obi’s 2023 vote count, and these would all be compromised by an alliance with Atiku. The minister claimed that Christian voters, who were drawn to Obi as the only Christian candidate, would abandon the ticket if he were to become Atiku’s running mate. He also argued that the South-East, which gave Obi a strong show of support, and the youth who sought a younger leader, would both lose their motivation to vote for a ticket that features an older, Northern candidate at the top.
Keyamo added that if the ticket were flipped, with Obi as the presidential candidate, he would be unable to penetrate the North, where the APC has strong and established political structures.
Keyamo defended the APC’s chances in the North, dismissing the notion that the party’s influence in the region has waned. He also boasted of his track record of political predictions, claiming he accurately foresaw the outcomes of both the 2019 and 2023 elections. While acknowledging the need for the APC to work hard, the minister welcomed the challenge from the opposition, stating that it would keep the ruling party “on our toes.”
