Peter Obi’s declaration generated a lot of social media buzz, how popular is he in PDP? [Pulse Editor’s Opinion]

If any politician has a genuine reason to claim Nigerians called and mounted pressure on him/her to contest for the 2023 presidency, that politician has to be Peter Obi.

The call on the former governor of Anambra State to declare his interest in the 2023 presidency has been so loud on Twitter that the politician literally bowed to pressure from young Nigerians asking him to contest.

Since Obi contested as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 presidential election, his political estimation on Twitter Nigeria has faultlessly been on the rise.

With over 760,000 followers on Twitter, Obi is one of the few politicians who enjoy immunity from social media dragging.

The perception of Obi being a modern and liberal Nigerian politician resonates with the ideological leanings of Twitter Nigeria.

Thus, the former governor is that politician many Nigerian tweeps adjudged to be clean, honest, and incorruptible. He is basically in their good books.

Obi’s impressive profile both as a businessman and politician also contributes to his popularity among Nigerian youths, hence, the clamour for him to join the 2023 presidential race.

With his political antecedents as the former governor of Anambra, a lot of Obi’s supporters and campaigners on Twitter believe if elected, Obi’s presidency would take Nigeria out of the embarrassing mess the country currently finds itself in.

So, on Thursday, March 24, 2022, Obi finally hearkened to the voices of his online supporters. He paid a visit to the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council to inform them of his desire to contest for the presidency.

That same day, the former governor took to Twitter to announce his presidential ambition. The declaration sent Peter Obi to the top of the trend table.

Tweeps reeled out his political achievements in Anambra and days later, a group of people obtained the PDP presidential nomination form for the former governor. The group also promised him 10 million votes.

Obi is fully in the race now, but it’s one thing to be in the race, it’s completely a different thing to be in the game.

Before Obi joined the race, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and former President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki had been moving around the country, consulting and registering their interests in the 2023 race.

Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State are also in the race. These are political heavyweights within the party where Obi announced his ambition.

Granted, Obi was the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP in 2019, and even though the party lost the election to the APC, what has Obi been able to influence within the party since his last political outing? Who are his allies in the PDP?

Obi served as the governor of Anambra State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance. He dumped the party and joined the PDP in October 2014.

As a former governor and Vice Presidential candidate, who has been a member of the main opposition party for almost eight years, Obi should be playing the role of a ‘senior politician’ in the PDP.

If governor Wike could exert his influence to win the Edo governorship election for his party, nothing stops Obi from throwing his weight behind the PDP candidate in the Anambra governorship election.

Unfortunately, Obi’s clout in Anambra wasn’t enough to bring the party to power in the state.

As it stands, Abubakar Atiku, Bukola Saraki, Dele Momodu, Nyesom Wike and Aminu Tambuwal are some of the politicians Obi would contest the PDP’s primary with.

Whoever emerges as the party’s flag bearer will not be representing the party because he has a huge following on Twitter, but because of his popularity among party members.

Party politics in Nigeria isn’t by social media popularity, Obi knows this and that’s the more reason he should get involved to become a party man to actualise his political desire.

*Pulse Editor's Opinion is the viewpoint of an Editor at Pulse. It does not represent the opinion of the Organisation Pulse.