The Obidient Movement Worldwide has dismissed recent comments by former President of the Court of Appeal, Ayo Salami, regarding the eligibility of former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to contest the 2023 general election.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Yunusa Tanko, the group insisted that Obi’s candidacy was valid and had already been settled by the courts.

Tanko said the movement would not be distracted by what it described as attempts to revisit or “rewrite history,” adding that judicial processes had already addressed all issues relating to Obi’s membership and eligibility under the Labour Party.

He argued that party membership is an internal matter and that the party had accepted Obi, granted him a waiver, and submitted his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

According to him, no external authority has the legal standing to interfere in such decisions.

The group also questioned the timing of Salami’s remarks, stating that Obi did not participate in the Peoples Democratic Party primaries and that the former jurist’s comments were not factually accurate.

The reaction follows Salami’s recent comments in Ilorin, where he suggested that Obi should not have been cleared to run under the Labour Party platform and also criticized what he described as declining standards in the judiciary.

The Obidient Movement maintained that Obi’s record in public service remains intact and reiterated that it would continue to focus on its broader political goals without being distracted by retrospective opinions.