The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also
said it did not monitor the convention.
Speaking on Monday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily
programme, Tanko said the controversy surrounding the convention would have
been avoided had Abure heeded Obi’s advice.
“His Excellency, Peter Obi, has made a concerted effort in
trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to
improve,” Tanko said.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi)
suggested to the national chairman that because we are bigger now, we need to
have a wider consultation: meet with responsible and interested people such as
the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group — young generation people who
are interested in seeing Nigeria work. Meet with leaders who have different
ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.
“All of these were the suggestions that he made, and not
only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with
the members of the national assembly.
“He met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba
trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and we
could improve our situation but of course, you know how politics is, sometimes,
people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot
force it to drink water. So, that is exactly what Peter Obi has done, he has
done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we
find ourselves.”
