Says Obi Not Involved
By Halimah Olamide
Opposition Labour Party on Saturday distanced itself from the much talked about anti-government protests which is reportedly being planned by some concerned Nigerians.
The party also dissociated its presidential candidate in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi from the said protests.
Labour Party’s statement came on the heels of allegation by the presidency on Saturday which asked Nigerians to hold Obi responsible for any breakdown of law and order.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, had pointedly accused Obi of being the plotter of the proposed nationwide protests.
“The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to a tweet purportedly from one of the presidential aides, Mr. Bayo Onanuga linking the Labour Party, its national leader Peter Obi, and very many notable figures in our party to the proposed ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest. We say that there is no truth in that and the tweet is just the author’s figment of his imagination,” the party said in a statement signed by Obiorah Ifoh, its National Publicity Secretary.
It said that it is known for being “a very peaceful party and it has at several occasions asked its followers to follow peace at all times.”
The party added that it is “not known as a lawless group as was evident in the aftermath of the last general election. ”
“It is therefore delusional for anyone to link our supporters to the planned protest. Labour Party, Peter Obi and our supporters are not planning any protests.” the party said
However the party said that peaceful protests all over the world are initiated and executed by the people and not by the opposition.
“No opposition has any control over protests. Popular protests such as in Kenya, Egypt and several other places were a direct registration of the people’s frustration against the government. The people have the right to protest and it is within their constitutional right.
“It is therefore puerile for the government or anyone for that matter to begin to look for who to blame for the bad governance that is being witnessed in Nigeria today. Nigeria can still get it right if the right policies are initiated. We also advise that some aides of the presidency must be cautioned to avoid incendiary pronouncements capable of combusting the nation, all in the name of playing politics.”
Onanuga in his statement released via his X handle on Saturday said, “Obi should be held responsible for anarchy. Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.
“The protest planners are also the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020
“ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness.
“IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their own agenda.
“Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today. Two years after ENDSARS, the IPOB and the gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathiser of their cause. They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’.”
“They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election,” he said.
“As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason.
“Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason. I have been on the trail of one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja.”
Onanuga stated that the federal government has implemented several measures to address the economic hardship in the country, including increasing the minimum wage, disbursing student loans, and rolling out palliatives.