The spokesman, one Dele Alake, had questioned the legacy of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate during his years as Anambra State governor, saying he can’t be compared to his APC counterpart.

In an interview with a national daily, Alake was quoted as saying: “Those who are gravitating to Peter Obi are not analysing his antecedents, especially in terms of performance. If that is put into consideration, Peter Obi will trail far behind, and this is not in any way to denigrate him.

“These are facts. Oh, he has been governor. But our candidate, Asiwaju, has also been governor for eight years. However, in terms of performance, the difference is clear, like night and day. There is no basis for comparison.

“Therefore, if the people who are emotionally or sentimentally attached to Peter Obi are educated or enlightened and are told to do rational analysis, they would not to make a mistake of their lifetime. They will discover a difference; they will discover that it is fluke and this is substance. And our candidate is the substance. What we need, at this point, is visioning.”

THE Obi-Datti campaign, which described the assertion as groundless, said Alake is among Lagosians who believe Nigeria begins and ends in Lagos, and may never have crossed the Niger in his lifetime. “He might not have been to Anambra and has been too biased to read up the LP candidate’s records in the public domain.”

The media office said: “If Alake is current, he should not have celebrated Asiwaju’s role in democracy struggle because it has been diminished, since it was revealed that he lobbied to be made a minister in the late Sani Abacha government and only joined National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) after he was rejected by the junta.

“Alake gave out one fact that the media office agrees with – indeed, Obi cannot be compared to Alake’s candidate. Yes, they are not comparable.

“Obi is highly verifiable, but Alake’s man is not; Obi has an origin; Alake’s has none; Obi has educational credentials; his counterpart has affidavits; Obi is whole and hearty and ready to face the challenge of leading Nigeria, the other candidate acts by proxy; Alake’s man says it’s his turn to rule Nigeria, Obi says it’s the turn of Nigerians to take back their country.

“Indeed, there is no basis for comparison between the duo. We are in sympathy with these attack dogs, who need to keep attacking the man they claim has no structure and is just a social media wave, instead of selling their structured candidate. All they seek is to mention Obi to be able to trend.

“The Obi-Datti tag team is in the market with their content, which is resonating with Nigerians. Let Alake’s enter the stage and sell himself. Never again will anybody become Nigeria’s president through fake and unsubstantiated packaging.”