Edwin Clark endorses Peter Obi

Ex-Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Tuesday, January 03, 2022, endorsed the Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi for the forthcoming poll.

Why Clark endorsed Peter Obi: Clark, who addressed Journalists at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, declared that with the former Anambra governor as President of Nigeria, the country would be more united.

According to him, one who must be the next President of the country must be educated and experienced, stressing that South-East should be allowed to produce the next President of the country.

He insisted that the zone has resourceful and educated people who can govern the country.

What you should know: Clark's endorsement comes 2 days after Obasanjo endorsed the Labour party presidential candidate.

Obasanjo has come under heavy criticism since his announcement of his choice candidate.

In criticising Obasanjo, Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, took to a lengthy statement on Monday, January 2, 2023, in reply to the ex-President, saying he would naturally stop at nothing to attack the person of Buhari because of his track records.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has described Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi, as worthless.

Tinubu said Obasanjo lacked any political goodwill or leverage in Nigeria to make Obi win the presidential election.

Speaking through his Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said the former president was a political paperweight.

Edwin Clark's history in Nigerian Politics

Clark's involvement in the political process began during the pre-independence period when he was elected as Councillor for Bomadi in 1953. Clark later joined National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). While a student at Holborn College, he was active in the West African Students' Union.

After the military coup of January 1966, Clark was among a group of delegates from the Mid-West who opposed any ideas of confederation that were raised at an ad-hoc constitutional conference set up by Gowon in 1966. The delegation's mandate was Nigerian unity and when proposals of a loose federation were tabled, the region's delegates asked for adjournment.

Clark was later appointed Midwestern Commissioner of Education and later, Finance. As commissioner for education, he was active in the establishment of a Mid-west College of Technology that became the foundation of the University of Benin.

During the second republic, he was a member of the national executive committee of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and was the treasurer of the party in Bendel State (now, in part, Delta State and previously the Mid-Western Region province). In 1983, he was an elected senator for three months at the twilight of the Shagari administration.

Beginning in 1996, Clark has been a self-described leader of the Ijaw nation. He supported the Ijaw ethnic group in Delta State during an ethnic crisis in Warri and has led Ijaw leadership delegations to meet political leaders.