The presidential campaign council of the Labour party (LP) has accused ‘the powers that be’ of grounding an Obi-dient aircraft ahead of the party’s presidential rally in the ancient city of Ibadan in Oyo state.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the Head of Media, Obi-Datti Campaign, Diran Onifade, said the plane was grounded only for regulatory reasons.
Onifade, however, urged the party’s supporters to ignore the ‘mischievous rumour’ that claimed that the aircraft was impounded.
- “The Obi-dient plane was grounded today by the powers that be ‘for regulatory reasons’ only. Please ignore any mischievous rumours. Our massive rally in Ibadan is going on as planned,’’ the brief statement said.
The Ibadan rally: Obi later arrived in Ibadan for the rally where he was met by a huge crowd of supporters. As one of the leading contenders for next year’s election, he enjoys support from many young Nigerians and is also making the buzz on social media.
While observers say his party has no structure to challenge the main political parties in the country – the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress (APC) – the former Anambra State Governor maintains that millions of poor and dissatisfied Nigerians are his support base.
The backstory: Nairametrics gathered that Peter Obi and his entourage were heading to the Oyo State capital from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja when the incident happened.