Omokri noted that Tafawa Balewa, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Musa Yar’adua, and Goodluck Jonathan never left their party.
Renowned political critic and pundit Reno Omokri has stated that no politician can win the presidency of Nigeria by switching from one political party to another.
Omokri made his opinion known via his official X handle on Tuesday, May 14, less than 24 hours after Labour Party bannerman Peter Obi visited ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and bannerman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election cycle.
Though not directly attacking Atiku and Obi, Omokri’s social media post gives a glimpse of a subliminal shot at both men.
Atiku, Obi’s history of switching political parties
Recall that Atiku has had stints with the Peoples Front of Nigeria (1989), Social Democratic Party (1989–1993), United Nigeria Congress Party (1997–1998), Action Congress (2006–2007), All Progressives Congress (2014–2017) and the PDP (1998–2006; 2007–2014; 2017–present).
Similarly, Obi started his political career with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), under which he was the governor of Anambra State.
Under the PDP government led by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Obi was appointed chairman of the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, on October 12, 2018, Obi was named Atiku’s running mate under the PDP’s flagship. A few years later, after an unsuccessful election in 2019, Obi declared his ambition to run for the presidency under the PDP on March 24, 2022.
Obi’s presidential bid was thwarted in the PDP after several rifts centred on the ticket’s zoning to the south or northern region.
This development led to Obi’s exit from the PDP to the Labour Party, where he eventually became their presidential bannerman in the last election cycle.
The track record of these individuals further strikes the cord of Omokri’s post which reads partly, “If you want to win an election in Nigeria, you can’t jump from party to party. Nobody who has done that has ever won an election at the centre in Nigeria from our amalgamation by the British in 1914 to now. Nobody! You can do so at the regional and state level, especially where your region has ethnic homogeneity. But in a pluralistic federation, you are toast if you do that.
“Only those who have remained loyal to their parties have ever won elections as Presidents or Prime Ministers in Nigeria. Your party can go into coalition and merge with another party, or it can change its name, and your reputation will remain intact. But when you leave your party to join another party, the people also leave you.”
Referring to his assertions, Omokri noted that Tafawa Balewa, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Musa Yar’adua, and Goodluck Jonathan never left their party.
He wrote, “Nigerian Politicians should learn from history. The best predictor of the future is the past. Between now and 2027, any politician who leaves his party for another party, except where there is a merger, is just wasting his time and money if he contests for the Presidency.”