By Cyprian Ebele  Onitsha

Palpable fears of victory by the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, (NDC), Peter Obi among other candidates of the party contesting various positions in the forthcoming 2027 general election has reportedly gripped the candidate of All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Onitsha North and South Federal constituency.

In a press release by the media team of. Idu, it described the alleged endorsement of Tinubu by Idu, as false, unfounded and a figment of the imagination of the Ikpeazu media team aimed at distracting Idu from his focus of continuing to fight for better welfare for his Onitsha Federal constituency constituents.

The Idu media team reiterated that if not that its silence on the said propaganda may be taken for weakness, it would not have responded as it is  preoccupied with activities aimed at Idu ensuring better welfare for the constituents.

According to the Idu media team, “

When a campaign has nothing to offer, it manufactures false allegations to tarnish the image of the man of the people. That is what the APC candidate’s media team has done in Onitsha North and South.

The team has circulated a report claiming that Emeka Idu has endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term. The people of the constituency, who know exactly where Hon. Idu stands, dismissing it almost immediately with the wave of his hands.

 Idu has been with Mr. Peter Obi since 2023, when Mr. Obi ran for president on the Labour Party platform and Idu ran for the House of Representatives on the same platform. He did not leave when it became costly to stay.

When the ruling party was working to win over opposition lawmakers, especially those who won on the Labour Party ticket, Idu did not decamp.

When Mr. Obi moved to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Idu went with him, contested the primary election and emerged as the NDC candidate for Onitsha North and South. That is loyalty in action and it is a matter of public record.

“So the story fails on its own terms. Why would a man who has stood with Mr. Obi through every turn suddenly endorse the Tinubu who Mr. Obi is running against? No one in Onitsha believes it, and that is why the allegation died the day it appeared.

“The more important question is why the APC’s team wrote it. The answer is that her candidate has no visible path to victory in this constituency. When a campaign cannot win an argument, it invents a rumour. When it cannot answer a record, it attacks a reputation.

We also suspect envy. Hon. Idu is on a joint ticket with Mr. Obi, whom Nigerians see as the hope for a better Nigeria, and the APC candidate has no such ticket, infact she is even afraid to add the picture of her party’s presidential candidate to her campaign posters and banners.

“Here is what will happen at the polls. The voters who go out to vote for Mr. Peter Obi for President will also vote for Idu for the House of Representatives. Both men are on the NDC platform and running as part of the same movement.

A vote for Mr. Obi at the top of the ballot becomes a vote for his strongest ally in the Green Chamber, someone who will support him from the House of Representatives. Onitsha North and South will send one clear message on the same ballot.

“. Idu also has a record to stand on, with presence in the constituency, legislative work in Abuja and a visible commitment to his people. The APC has a rumour. The people will choose between the two.

“To the APC candidate, Ikpeazu and her media team: no  amount of fabricated endorsement will change the outcome, and no propaganda will turn voters away from the man who stood with them and with Mr. Obi.

Your defeat is now so plain that you have resorted to cheap, senseless propaganda of which the electorate disregard,” Idu media team stated