Since the 2015 presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have been regarded by Nigerian political elites as the two major political parties in the country, given their solid political structure and the fact that they are the only parties to produce Nigerian Presidents since 1999.
However, over the past few months, there has been a vibe in the Nigerian political realm, that a third force can stand toe to toe with the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, in the February 2023 presidential election.
The Labour Party is the third force many Nigerians believe can upset the two political big boys, as the party is being spurred on by the rapid growth of their 2023 presidential candidate and former Anambra State, Peter Obi. Since Peter Obi declared his 2023 presidential ambition, he has won several online polls and boasts of a massive followers on social media.
In an interview with Arise TV on Friday, 22nd of July, 2022 monitored by ABN TV, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Nigerian Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, stated his honest opinion on the fast-growing popularity of Peter Obi, who was his running mate in the 2019 presidential election.
Atiku Abubakar explained that he does not believe that the Labour Party can actually pull weight in the 2023 presidential election, due to their lack of political structure.The former Nigerian Vice-President claimed that the Labour Party only has social media hype, but they should not forget that about 90% of Northerners do not make use of the social media.
The Northern States boast of having a much larger population compared to the Southern States and for a candidate to win a presidential election, he or she needs to gather as much votes from the North.