I prefer younger person for VP – Peter Obi

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi says he prefers to work with a younger person as running mate ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

He said this while featuring on Arise TV on Wednesday.

Obi said the party was speaking with a number of peoples towards running a joint ticket with him.

On the story that the party had arrived at the choice of spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the LP candidate said: “We’re talking to quite a number of people and Hakeem Baba-Ahmed is a capable hand. But I wish I could work with somebody who is younger.”

Baba-Ahmed is aged 66.

“I prefer younger people who have a lot to offer rather than recycling old hands. I want a competent person and I am building a formidable team.

“I want people who can look me in the eye and disagree with me during cabinet meetings. People who have their own minds and ideas,” he added.

WesternPost had earlier reported that the placeholder Vice Presidential Candidate, Doyin Okupe said a substantive running mate would be announced latest Friday.

While featuring on Channels TV programme Politics Today on Tuesday, Okupe confirmed that alliance talks with former Kano State governor and presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso is “dead”.

“The young Nigerians are saying ‘our future is in dire straits and we need a man that can drive the country well’. Kwankwaso has nothing in his background that convinces anybody that he can match Peter Obi. It’s not a matter of seniority; it’s a matter of capacity.

“Those discussions about mergers, alliance were led by me from our side and it’s dead and buried. The Labour Party and its presidential candidate have long since withdrawn from that conversation. It was NNPP that tried to continue to benefit from the traction of the popularity of Obi.

“The talk about the alliance had been dead for over four weeks,” Okupe said.