Professor Pat Utomi, a political economist, has subtly responded to claims that he was used by the “president-elect” Bola Tinubu to withdraw as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in favour of Peter Obi and to fund the same campaign in an effort to lessen Atiku Abubakar’s chances of victory.
On Thursday, on his Twitter account, Utomi responded to a statement by Tawfiq Akinwale, the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate for governor of Oyo State.
On Wednesday, a portion of the media said that Akinwale had admitted in an interview that Bola Tinubu, the “President-elect,” had requested renowned economist Prof. Pat Utomi to move aside for Peter Obi in the run-up to the general elections of 2023.
Akinwale claimed that Utomi, whom he referred to as Tinubu’s “son,” sent money to Obi’s campaign while he was a guest on a radio show on 101.7 YES FM in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The LP candidate, who spoke in Yoruba, had stated: “In the run-up to the 2023 elections, Obi, who had bought the PDP candidature form, abruptly declared his withdrawal from the party.
“Pat Utomi had initially been given the LP presidential ticket, but after hearing what Peter Obi had to say, Utomi left the PDP and switched to the LP. Master political mastermind Bola Tinubu immediately instructed Utomi, who everyone knows to be his son, to step aside for Obi.
The “president-elect” believed that Obi’s presidential campaign offered a strong opportunity to lessen Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate prospects,’s of winning.
“What Peter Obi didn’t know is far more than what he knows; he began soliciting campaign contributions from Utomi while Tinubu was handing the cash over to Utomi.
“This continued until Obi’s presidential campaign reached a point where it veered off course. Announcing his exit from the party, Akinwale claimed, “Obi was utilised without him knowing.
On Thursday morning, Pat Utomi quickly responded on Twitter, saying, “As I SEE the desperation with which past actions sown in love for the common good is unearthed and bent into disinformation regarding the present I am thankful that in the end truth is the only thing that prevails when lust for power is consumed by its own negativity. So I don’t.”
