The Minister of Science and Technology, Olorunnimbe Mamora, has said it will be a miracle if the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi wins next year’s general election.
Mamora stated this when he appeared on Political Paradigm, a Channels Television programme, aired on Tuesday.
Speaking during the programme, the minister said Obi doesn’t have the necessary structure in place to secure victory.
“What I see, with all due respect, is what you can call independent candidacy in Labour, and to the best of my knowledge, even in America, no independent candidate has ever won the presidency,” he said.
“They can win in the senate or house of representatives but not in the presidential. So, it will be a miracle of the century.
“I won’t dismiss it (support for Peter Obi) but it doesn’t seem to me that it will be as such as would cause havoc in this system at the end of the day.
“This is because we do our checks on a regular basis. We look at the spread; we look at the capacity on the ground. You see, you cannot underrate the role of structures in politics and particularly in elections because this is the reality. There are many logistics involved in electioneering,”
He also played down the support the LP and Obi are getting from labour unions and youths.
“The same way all these people are saying they will back Peter Obi is the same way they are saying they will back other candidates, especially those frontline candidates,” he said.
Tinubu is the best candidate
The minister said he is not underrating other contenders in the presidential race. But to him, Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), remains the best.
“I said with all due respect, no one should underrate anyone. In a contest, you don’t underrate anyone. But with all due respect to all these frontliners, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Kwankwaso, of course, those are the faces we see when you tune into any channel,” he added.
“So, you cannot underrate. But I am saying that in spite of that and with all due respect to other candidates, he (Tinubu) is still the number one candidate to beat. That’s the point I am making.”
Mamora also despite the challenge the LP and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) poses to the APC and PDP, it won’t be enough for either of LP or NNPP to win the election.
“It is part of the growth in the system as far as I am concerned. But again, don’t forget that is just the way it is in all these other countries,” he said.
“Go to the UK. It is not as if you don’t have other parties. But we’re talking of the Labour Party and the Conservatives, isn’t it? Go to America — we are talking about Democrats and the Republicans.”
