Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has dismissed concerns that the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, poses a significant threat to the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Oshiomhole attributed Obi’s strong performance in the 2023 presidential election largely to widespread public dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the country at the time.
The former Edo State governor stated this on Monday during an appearance on TVC News’ Beyond The Headlines.
Responding to a question on whether the APC was underestimating Obi’s political influence, particularly following his victory in Lagos and strong performance in the South-East during the 2023 election, Oshiomhole said Obi benefited from what he described as an unusual political situation.
He said, “Obi was produced by an unusual situation when a ruling party decided to destroy itself, making anybody running on its platform almost unelectable. It was that confusion that produced those votes.”
Oshiomhole said the cash shortage resulting from the naira redesign policy, coupled with fuel scarcity shortly before the election, contributed significantly to the anger among Nigerians.
According to him, many citizens were unable to access money in their bank accounts, while those who turned to Point of Sale operators had to pay exorbitant charges to withdraw cash.
He said, “People had money in the bank but couldn’t access it. They queued all night at ATM machines just to withdraw ₦10,000, and after a week, even the ATMs were dry.”
The senator recalled that some Nigerians were frustrated by having to queue for hours to access cash and fuel, only to be expected to vote for the same government during the election.
He added, “Someone asked why people would queue all night to withdraw ₦5,000, then queue again for fuel, and still expect them to queue on election day to vote for the same government. That anger was what produced Obi.”
Oshiomhole further argued that the Peoples Democratic Party had already lost some public support before the APC came to power, but maintained that the economic hardship experienced shortly before the 2023 election intensified voter dissatisfaction.
Recalling an encounter with one of his constituents, the former governor said a woman had complained about being unable to access money she had deposited in the bank.
He quoted her as saying, “You said I should keep my money in the bank, but when I went to collect it, they said there was no money. At the POS, they deducted ₦2,000 from ₦5,000. How do I survive?”
Oshiomhole maintained that the policies that caused the cash crunch were not part of the APC’s political agenda, insisting that the hardship and resulting public anger influenced the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
He said, “I told her what Buhari was doing at that time was not APC policy. It was that anger that influenced the outcome of the election.”
