No opposition to Obi’s VP nomination — Chidoka

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, has said there was no opposition to the nomination of chief Peter Obi as the Vice-Presidential candidate to Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar.

Chidoka, who is the Special Adviser on Strategy and External Engagement to Prince Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the assertion on Wednesday in Awka.

He blamed the initial disquiet by some stakeholders on the channel (social media) through which they might have received the announcement.

The PDP chieftain said the meeting of party stakeholders in Enugu was not to oppose the nomination of Obi but to discuss why the presidential candidate did not take them into confidence.

He said there was nothing to worry about as Atiku, who is presently out of the country, had said he would meet with the stakeholders of the South-East on his choice.

According to him, varied discussion went on but none was about Gov. Peter Obi as a wrong choice, rather it was all around the choice of those other candidates consulted before coming to a decision.

“It seems the social media announcement of his choice as the vice-presidential candidate didn’t go down well with the political leadership in the South-East.

“At Enugu, after sampling opinion of key stakeholders, I was certain there was no plan to scuttle Obi’s nomination rather it was a reaction to perceived slight by our candidate.

“The media frenzy was a storm in a tea cup as there was no discussion around the preference or otherwise of Obi, a former Anambra governor as vice-presidential candidate,” he said in statement.

Chidoka said the leadership of PDP would remain focused in their preparations for victory at the polls and set the country on the trajectory of growth recorded under Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan.

“There was a time when international economists predicted that Nigeria would be part of the `Next-11 Countries that will rival the BRIC and the G-7 Countries.

“That was an era when, through intelligent thinking and committed hard work by Nigerians, our country overtook that of South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa.

“Atiku/Obi will leverage their business acumen to solve the most critical challenge facing us today which is jobs,’’ he said.