The former Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula, says the defection of the Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Dr Auta Zankai, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party was a breakthrough for the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Arigbe-Osula, a one-time associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, said the defection of Zankai and another lawmaker representing Zaria State Constituency, Suleiman Dabo, from the APC to the Labour Party has proved that Obi “is now a national project”.

The former House of Reps member said this via a statement made available to The Star on Monday.

Zankai and Dabo dumped the APC for the LP last Thursday.

READ ALSO: Obi at Chatham House: I’ll dismantle structure of criminality in Nigeria

Arigbe-Osula said: “For several of us who were quick to see the Obi-Datti presidential aspiration as the answer to years of leadership deficit that Nigeria has for long suffered, this news is indeed cheering. It is a rebuff to the claim that Obi cannot win in the North.

“That puerile argument projects the claim that Northerners who have suffered like many others under the present administration love the yoke that has been imposed on them. That is a lie and the fact that the deputy speaker and a member of the House in the ancient capital of the North have buckled is an indication that the message is making progress.

“I enjoin other Northerners and indeed, all other Nigerians who have heard the message of liberty to shake off the yoke as represented by the APC and the PDP and join the moving train as led by Obi and Datti to put Nigeria on the path of progress.”

The Star