The national coordinator of the Obidients Movement, and former spokesperson for Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, has dismissed allegations made by self-styled “Obidient General”, Ikenna Azomchine regarding divisions within the movement, insisting during a right of reply on ARISE NEWS that the Obidient Movement remains united, structured, and firmly committed to the ideals of its leader, Peter Obi.
“The Obidient Movement is organic in nature, strongly so, and that everything that we do is self-sacrifice. We align ourselves strongly with the ideas and principles of His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi, who has shown dynamism in shifting and emphasizing on money-driven political system. We deemphasise money, not because it doesn’t matter, but because it has been used to cause a lot of damage, up to today, to the Nigerian people. And that is the reason why, I’m sure, a lot of thousands of Nigerians has applied Mr. Azomchine on his own assumptions and what he said.
“We make bold to say that we have 37 states, all leadership of the Obidient Movement intact. I had to come here because my name was mentioned, and then to account and defend the interest of the Obidient Movement, which is very much intact, no single crack,” he insisted.
Condemning the deregistration of five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Zenith Labour Party, Tanko described the move as ill-timed and harmful to Nigeria’s democratic process. He argued that deregistering parties just months before an election, after many aspirants had already purchased nomination forms and begun mobilisation efforts, could undermine democratic participation and should be condemned by all Nigerians, regardless of political affiliation.
“I’d like to join many Nigerians in condemning the act of the de-registration of the five political parties, using the ADC and Zenith Labour Party as a point of contact. Quite honestly, it’s a wrong timing. Many people have already bought forms, people are ready to mobilize themselves, and yet you de-register a political party just barely five months plus to an election. I think it’s a deliberate act in order to put the democratic system into jeopardy. An injury to one is an injury to all. Even though we managed to escape that particular situation, but that doesn’t mean we should applaud it. So, I urge all Nigerians to condemn this and then probably put our democracy in prayer and ensure that things are done rightly,” he urged.
Responding to questions about financial accountability from the 2023 presidential campaign, Dr. Tanko maintained that Peter Obi was the only presidential candidate who publicly accounted for campaign expenditures through an independent audit.
“I have not seen any, till today, I’ve not seen any presidential candidate or any group that came out to account for expenditure of the campaign. The only person that has done that is Mr. Peter Obi. His Excellency, he employed the services of an independent auditor, who came in. So he’s the only person, because he was careful about the accountability. So he made sure that those accounts were rendered to the public, and with an independent public, and I think it’s a public document; it can be accessed by anybody,” he shared.
Addressing allegations that some polling agents were not paid, Tanko argued that payments were tied to verified work and results, insisting that all legitimate claims had been settled, while any outstanding complaints supported by evidence would be reviewed.
“When you say people polling agents were not paid, you only pay people when they give you results of their actions. If you feel you have performed your duty, till today, you can present your result and then it will be paid. So if anybody is claiming that certain thing was not paid, because I am aware that a lot of people were accusing—were saying that agent fees were not paid. And if there is any that somebody has done work that he has not been paid, and he has to have a proof of the work he has done, it will be looked into,” he said.
Rejecting claims that deregistration of parties favours Obi, Dr. Tanko said no democrat should celebrate opposition exclusion. He stressed Obi’s issue-based politics and urged supporters to focus on grassroots mobilisation, insisting election success depends on voter engagement, not rivals’ setbacks.
“The truth about it is that an opposition is an opposition. We needed more— we don’t need to celebrate the downfall, and that’s where His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi is distinctly different. You have never seen him jubilating about the downfall of any other person, but he speaks to the issues. And that is the kind of politics that we need.
“It’s not about favor. It’s not about favor because when you say favor me or favor us, that means that probably we are jubilating and celebrating that we have eliminated our— We need everybody to come together and work as a team. We need everybody. Let’s fix our eyes on the ball. The target is to ensure that the leader person become the presidential candidate of the NDC. So ladies and gentlemen, let’s get to work and we have a president to make,” he urged.
Describing his biggest challenge ahead of the 2027 elections,, Dr. Tanko said his main challenge ahead of 2027 is persuading Nigerians to resist vote buying and stay focused on national interest.
“My biggest challenge will be some of the Nigerian people that are yet to see that the country needs help, I’m talking to intellectuals. I’m talking to young men, I’m talking to the women that are being mobilized and being given stipends of money just to change their views. As of today, there’s going to be trillions of Naira being shifted out of this country. And you know that that does not bring food to your table. It may bring it for a short period of time, but the longer period of time you will continue to wallow in poverty. Change that psyche. Reject the money. Move into the people. Support this particular movement. It’s a collective movement for everyone of us. But then, the eye on the ball: Nigeria need to be saved and we are all involved. So, don’t deviate from the ball. Let’s get it to action,” he said.
On whether the NDC should absorb members of ADC, Accord, Zenith Labour Party and others, Dr. Tanko said it should welcome all political actors, stressing the need for unity to strengthen and rescue Nigeria.
“We need everybody. This is an opportunity—I’m using it to plead to everybody. You have been insulted, you have been deregistered, but you should also know that you have a country that we need to protect. So, we will, of course, encourage the NDC to take everybody on board. They could have everywhere they could serve and help this country. The country needs help, and urgently, too,” he stressed.
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