- Safiu Kehinde
Oseloka Obi, son of the 2023 Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has lambasted those orchestrating negative campaigns against him to get to his father.
The actor and writer who had kept a low profile despite his father’s popularity finally broke silence following the reemergence of speculations surrounding his private life and sexuality.
Renowned for his identification as a gay and an advocate for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community, Oseloka had often surfaced in propagandas aimed at demarketing Peter Obi.
With his father’s set to contest again at the 2027 Presidential election, Oseloka had over the week gained tractions from the netizens who alleged that the actor may be used in promoting LGBTQ in Nigeria if Obi becomes the President of the country.
Several photos of him had in the past week surfaced online with his sexuality emerging as the focal point of discourse.
Reacting in a statement issued on Thursday, Oseloka labelled the speculations as a false and childish calculation.
He stressed that the reference of him in his father’s political ambition reveals more about the pettiness of his oppositions.
Osekola described the fictious misrepresentation of his ordinary pictures as unsettling.
“Because of my father’s involvement in politics, there has been persistent curiosity and at times a malicious obsession with me. Why? I do not know. I have no social media presence and no interest in maintaining one.
“So, I rarely correct these falsehoods. But perhaps, it is time I address them. I understand that gossip follows those with public life. But let me remind you, my father is the one in politics not me.
“To assume that my life or choices are somehow a political statement is false and childish calculation. It reveals more about the pettiness of those spreading such narratives than it does about me or my father.
“This pattern has become all too familiar. Individuals opposed to my father seize ordinary photos of me- images that are neither hidden nor secret- and repackage them with false stories.
“These are not revelations; they are not exposes. They are simply misrepresentations, fictions.
“I have seen this happen to others but experiencing it myself repeatedly is deeply unsettling. Still, I want it to be known clearly that what is being circulated is gossip.” He said.
While maintaining that he is an actor and writer with frequent screen appearances, Oseloka dismissed the false narratives painted around his pictures.
He however disclosed that he has a good and mutual relationship with Peter Obi despite their differences.
While defending his sexuality, Oseloka noted that Nigeria has more than enough problem to deal with other than being distracted with rumors.
The actor however endorsed his father describing him as the right man for the job
“I’m an actor and a writer by profession. Many are surprised, given the businessman, entrepreneur, and economist my father is, and should imagine I might follow that path.
“Yet that my career is far from what he envisioned, he fully supports me. I’m like many children of Nigerian politicians. I never relied on nepotism. I was raised to know that my father’s wealth is not mine and that I must build my own life.
“My chosen path is in theatre and film making so far from the world he inhabits. In the industry, they embrace the diversity of class, race, sexuality, and identity.
“I portray characters vastly different from myself. Yet someone used these roles against me and my father, presenting fiction as fact.
“I trust any rational person could see how absurd this is. More importantly, Nigeria has far greater issues than idle speculations about what Peter Obi’s son is doing. On issues on struggles with insecurity, on weakened economy, crumbling infrastructure, failing healthcare, and politicians who steal from the people they swore to serve.
“And yet, for some, the priority is to spread gossip about who Peter Obi son appears with in photos.
“This is a distraction from the real crisis that matter =s to all Nigerians. The truth is simple, Peter Obi’s son appears in photos with his friends and his work colleagues. Nothing more. If people invent otherwise, I hope they sleep soundly knowing they are spreading lies.
“No, I owe father a perfect man. And as father and son, we have our differences. But I can attest to his integrity and relentless desire to lead Nigeria out of his current hardship.
“In our home as a child, the lesson was always clear. Face your work, do it honestly, and contribute to the good of others. That is what I will continue to do.
“To those who attempt to distract us with lies, I beg you stop pulling attention away from Nigeria’s urgent problems. My father has my vote.
“Not because he is my father, but because he is the right man for the job. If others wish to go low, invent scandals, or tag me to wound him, they are free to do so. But we will go high and will continue to focus on the future of Nigeria with love.” He added.