By Andrew Ochei

The Labour Party candidate in the just concluded Enugu State governorship election, Barr Chijioke Edeoga today in Enugu revealed how Mr Peter Obi, the party's presidential candidate, fought against his emergence as governorship candidate, accusing Obi of serial deceits and betrayal. 

Edeoga at a meeting of the Coalition of Support Groups for Okaome held at his Enugu residence, accused Obi of engineering the intra-party infighting and litigations between him and Capt. Evarest Nnaji (aka Odengene), maintaining that Obi wanted the Labour Party ticket given to Capt. Nnaji because of his promises to make available the fleet of helicopters and executive jets in the Odengene Air Services (OAS), owned by the aviator-turned politician, for his state-to-state campaign tour, in addition to maximum financial support.

According to Edeoga, it was Obi that masterminded the incident that took place at Kobb Event Centre at Shoprite in Enugu using his  well-known surrogate and convener of the 40 Million Ballots Movement, the main precursor of the Obidient Movement, Comrade Kennedy Iyare who chaired the event, announcing to the bewilderment of his teeming supporters that the authentic candidate of the party in Enugu was Capt. Evarest Nnaji, a statement that sparked  uproar in the hall.

He further accused Obi of conniving with Iyare and other top Labour Party national officials to influence the earlier judgement of the Federal High Court Abuja  in Nnaji's favour. He alleged that Aisha Yesufu was aware of the plan, hence her tweet to Peter Obi, ''God forbid that I become what I want to change''.

Edeoga also narrated to his sympathetic audience how Obi blocked the national headquarters of Labour Party from releasing campaign funds to the Enugu, Kebbi and Benue State branches of the party, saying Obi alleged that those were the states where corrupt party operatives sold the governorship tickets to candidates of questionable character. He recalled how Obi's righthand-man Iyare was openly campaigning for Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party, insisting that he couldn't have acted without Obi's approval. 

"Obi carried himself like a saint and tried avoiding me in public. All the public image of integrity we built was undermined by the way Obi avoided me like plague. Of course we all saw how he raised the hand of Alex Otti at the Aba rally, and his wicked statement that Obidients should vote for competence and character in Enugu State instead of emphasizing my name, thus setting the Obidient family in confusion given the open endorsement of Frank Nweke by Obi associate, Aisha Yesufu.

"There was a conspiracy in the top echelon of Labour Party against our electoral victory. Dr Pat Utomi, the domineering Oseloka Obaze, another fake activist Oby Ezekwesili, Comrade Iyare and the Hijab wearing fake activist Aisha Yesufu sabotaged us. They desperately wanted Frank Nweke! You can imagine their undisguised hypocrisy in rooting for a candidate of APGA because of his business ties with them. All these happened because Ike Ukehe (Chief Nnia Nwodo) and Prof Barth Nnaji are outsiders in the inner circle of Obi dominated by his Anambra kinsmen and friends", Edeoga lamented.   

''Our brother and friend Peter Obi and other leaders of our party are nothing but traitors. They fought against us in the election. Of course, you saw him hugging, smilingly, congratulating and offering a seat to Peter Mbah at an event. What does that tell you? I received calls from many people and the consensus of opinion was exactly what I was saying earlier that Obi has never been that nice and welcoming to us in public. 

''Comrade Kennedy Iyare, his man-Friday had called me during the legal tussle with Capt. Nnaji, to withdraw from the race and take the senatorial ticket of Enugu East zone because Obi would prefer Capt. Nnaji as governorship candidate. All pressure was on me from our party headquarters to surrender the ticket to Odengene because they said he had the humongous war chest to finance the electioneering and the election proper. Since then I started receiving intelligence that Obi was hobnobbing secretly with both Nweke and Mbah."

Edeoga wondered what could have made a man like Obi, the presidential candidate of his party to hug and congratulate Peter Mbah  few days after being declared winner at an occasion they both were curiously guests, maintaining that it was indicative of an intimate relationship between the two. 

Edeoga said he was particularly miffed to discover that Obi had introduced his lawyer, the famous election litigation expert, Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, to Mbah saying it was the worst act of treachery he had witnessed so far from Obi.

"Peter Obi is not what people think of him. He is self-centered and deceitful. Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu is about the only lawyer of his rank that has never lost any election case. He was our main hope to upturn the PDP victory and retrieve our stolen mandate from the PDP. But Obi has handed him over to Mbah and that is most wicked and disheartening", he fumed. 

''Anyway, all hope is not lost as we are still relying on the judiciary to deliver justice in our case. We have encountered many challenges, which convinced me that we have come this far only by the mercy of God. We faced a lot of internal and external wars to get this far. We will surely prevail, "he said