Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, (IMN), Ibraheem Yaqoub El-Zakzaky, has dismissed reports that he endorsed the Labour Party, (LP) Presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi or any other candidate.
Following the recent endorsements by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and senior statesman, Edwin Clark, reports made rounds that the Shi’ite leader had declared his support for Obi.
It was reported that he urged eight million members of the Shi’ite movement to get their Personal Voter Cards, (PVC) and vote for Obi in February.
But, in response through one of his lawyers, Marshall Abubakar (of the Falana & Falana Chambers), the IMN leader said the viral reports of him endorsing the former Governor of Anambra State is a falsehood which should be ignored.
According to El-Zakzaky, some presidential candidates approached him and pleaded for his endorsement but he declined.
“That is fake news. I can confirm to you that there is nothing of such, though some presidential candidates have reached out to him, he has refrained from endorsing any of them because he believes the 2023 presidential contest is bereft of ideological leaning,” Marshall told newsmen.
Meanwhile, the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organization, earlier said the endorsement of Peter Obi by Olusegun Obasanjo is not the wish of Nigerians.
Spokesperson of the PDP Campain Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Sunday said the people do not take Obasanjo’s opinion seriously with regards to Obi being the solution to Nigeria’s problems.
CorrectNG recalls that the former president officially declared his support for the former Anambra state governor in a letter on Sunday morning.
In reaction, Atiku’s campaign said Obi does not have the requisite experience that the PDP candidate possesses above all other candidates.
Ologbondiyan added that Obasanjo does not have the power to influence or redirect Nigerians from their determination to vote for Atiku to rescue Nigeria from the failures of the All Progressives Congress, (APC).
The statement reads partly: “In any case, Chief Obasanjo’s opinion cannot sway Nigerians who can easily remember how he endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari, whose administration, he (Obasanjo) now describes as “stressful years for many Nigerians,” during which our nation “moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley.
“It is, therefore, extremely difficult for Nigerians, particularly the youth demography, to accept Chief Obasanjo’s opinion as the solution to the myriad of challenges facing the nation today because the last candidate he introduced, by his estimation, failed Nigerians.”
