Political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, has warned that he would withdraw his support for the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi if he decides to run as a vice-presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
Utomi made the statement on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, where he expressed confidence that the former Anambra State governor would contest the presidency in 2027 following his formal defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Wednesday.
He was reacting to a claim by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, that Obi had already agreed to run as vice-presidential candidate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on the ADC platform in 2027, a claim Utomi firmly rejected.
“I can tell you that Peter Obi will contest for the presidency. The day he becomes somebody’s vice president, I walk away from his corner. I can tell you that for a fact,” Utomi said on the programme.
During the interview, Utomi also advocated age limits for executive political offices, arguing that presidential and gubernatorial candidates should not be older than 70 years.
He criticised what he described as a growing trend of elderly leaders occupying the presidency, referring to it as a “retirement home,” and faulted both the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and that of President Bola Tinubu, which he described as “government in absentia.”
“Something important about this election to bear in mind is that the Nigerian presidency has become a retirement home where people go for the Nigerian state to pay their medical bills. It is not acceptable.
“They don’t have the fitness to run the country. The last one, and the current one, have essentially been government-in-absentia leaders.
“I, Pat Utomi, am insisting that I will canvass to the Nigerian people that nobody over the age of 70 should run for an executive position, whether it be governor or president,” he said.
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