The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has dismissed media reports that he is looking forward to vying for the presidency in the 2027 presidential election.

Obi also denied commenting on the appointees of President Bola Tinubu.

The former governor of Anambra State made this known in a statement on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

The LP presidential candidate described both reports as bogus, saying Nigerian politics had sunken to the level where manipulation of the media space was now a trade.

Obi said: “I have noticed with dismay, an emerging pattern, where fake media reports and news items are predicated on interviews and press remarks I never granted.

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“Two recent instances relating to my saying that I am looking forward to running for office in 2027 on a supposed Arise TV interview.

“This never took place and the other, about my reaction to prospective appointees into the current Federal Government.”

The LP standard bearer said he would not allow fake news to distract his focus for a new Nigeria which he insisted was possible.

Obi said his focus and that of the ‘Obidient’ Movement’ he leads would not derail from the original mission of creating a new Nigeria which they believed was possible.

He stressed that he would continue to speak on topical national issues via recognised news and media outfits but certainly would not concern himself with cheap distraction.

Obi added: “Our emphasis has never been on political positions or personal aggrandisement but on putting the nation on the right footing and deepening our democracy by helping to elevate and empower the downtrodden in our society.

“That was why our messages during the electioneering campaigns were all issue-driven.”

The Star