Willie Obiano refuses to congratulate Obi saying there is no big do in being made a running mate

ANAMBRA State governor Willie Obiano has said that he will not congratulate his predecessor Peter Obi on being selected as the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because there is no big deal about the appointment.

Earlier this month, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar won the PDP presidential ticket and swiftly moved to name former Anambra State governor Obi as his running mate. However, Governor Obi's naming has attracted criticism from some other Igbo politicians, many from those who were either interested in the position themselves or who wanted to be involved in the selection process.

Yesterday, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, Governor Obiano's spokesperson said that the Anambra State governor refused to congratulate his predecessor because there was nothing to celebrate about it. He added there was nothing to be euphoric about a mere pick as a vice presidential candidate as Governor Obi was not yet a vice president.

In addition, Mr Obi-Okoye added that Governor Obiano's party the All Progressives Grand Alliance (Apga) has its own presidential and vice presidential candidates, who the PDP nominees cannot claim to be better than. Governor Obi used to be a member of Apga and was at one stage the chairman of its board of trustees before resigning and joining the PDP.

Mr Obi-Okoye said: “Let’s get something clear, I don’t think Peter’s nomination as vice presidential candidate calls for any congratulatory message. If he becomes the vice president, we will congratulate him.

“We in Apga are running in the presidential election against the PDP and we fielded a candidate who we believe can beat the PDP candidate, so we have no reason to celebrate Obi, or we are saying we have already acknowledged that they will defeat us. I want to say as you have mentioned that as someone who is from here, and who was in Apga, that if by any chance Obi becomes a vice president, we will congratulate him.

"For now, we are in the trench, planning how we can win the election for Apga. You may not believe that we have chances, so also would you not have believed that a footballer would become the president of Liberia, or would you not have believed that the current president of Ghana would have defeated an incumbent.”

He contended that there would be surprises in the 2019 polls, saying that nobody should rule out the chances Apga in the race. According to Mr Obi-Okoye there are so many factors that will play out in 2019, including the ethnic factor, security factor, the lack of governance and the inability of politicians to keep faith with the people.