On Monday, May 13, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election, and Peter Obi, his counterpart from the Labour Party (LP), had a meeting.
The meeting took place at Atiku’s residence in Abuja and lasted for about 20 minutes, as confirmed by Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe.
It is worth noting that Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, also had separate meetings with Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, and Bukola Saraki, a former Senate President.
This development has led to speculation about a potential coalition for the upcoming 2027 general election.
In the 2019 elections, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP joint ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
However, due to internal conflicts, Obi left the PDP and contested the 2023 presidential election as the LP candidate.
He mentioned that there is a possibility of forming a coalition before the upcoming presidential election in 2027. Furthermore, he emphasized that the specifics of the meeting will not be disclosed to the media.
He stated:
“Yes, Peter Obi visited Atiku Abubakar. They met for about 20 minutes behind closed doors, so we wouldn’t know what was said, and they didn’t disclose anything to us.
“Since Atiku Abubakar mentioned coalition discussions and such, I believe that both of them must have been engaged in dialogue. And I did mention that they wouldn’t be discussing it in the media. So, they have indeed been in discussions and it is just a matter of those discussions bearing fruit.
“Regarding the coalition talks, perhaps it is already underway. The possibility does exist.”
Mr. Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has expressed his disapproval of the recently introduced cybersecurity levy.
He criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for focusing on exploiting a struggling economy rather than nurturing it back to health and prosperity.
Obi accused the government of implementing policies that not only worsen the financial situation of the citizens but also reduce the country’s economic competitiveness.
He argued that imposing a Cybersecurity Levy on Nigerians would further deplete their already dwindling capital, especially after the effects of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rates.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Obi questioned the transformation of the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, into a revenue-generating entity.
The former governor of Anambra State emphasized that it is unreasonable to expect the suffering Nigerian population to individually finance all government activities.
“The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.“The imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.
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