- Safiu Kehinde
Former Presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has revealed the motive behind his plot to destroy the Labour Party’s Obidients Movement.
Omokri made the disclosure in an interview on News Central TV on Thursday.
The Nigerian author recounted how he and his family came under attacks and threats from the Obidients during the course of the 2023 Presidential election with Obi fully aware of the situation.
He disclosed how the movement had ambushed him and his wife at the United Kingdom’s residence trolling them along their jogging routes.
The frequent attacks, according to Omokri, forced to contact Obi who he claimed to know an undisclosed person behind the attacks.
Omokri said the Labour Party’s candidate told him he would issue a general statement while failing properly address the issue.
This, according to Omokri, stirred his motive to destroy what he described as a ‘headless’ movement.
“Peter Obi’s movement, the Obidients, started attacking me, insulting me. Well, that was okay. But then they moved from myself to my family. I just had a daughter at that time. There were multiple threats.
“They came to my house in the United Kingdom. They trolled my wife and I when we were jogging. They found out my jogging route and they pursued me.
“One day I just got very annoyed, and I contacted Peter Obi and told him this is what was happening.
“And I named a specific individual who is online. The person masquerade himself as a mixed-race girl on X. I told him look I knew who that person is, and you got to speak with that person on the phone.
“Peter Obi put me on speaker phone, talked to somebody in the background and later came back to me and said he cannot condemn that person, but he will issue a general statement. That means that Peter Obi knew who that person was.
“Anyway, the attacked continued and I will contact Peter Obi, and he will not do anything on it. So, I took a decision one day and said well if Peter Obi is like this, if he is not going to control this thuggish movement and headless mob, then I am going to do my possible best with whatever political machinery that I have to destroy that movement.” Omokri said.
Prior to that, the ex-Presidential aide recalled how he had influenced Obi’s emergence as the running mate of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, during the 2019 Presidential election.
He claimed Obi to be his personal project before his unannounced exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Peter Obi was a project of mine. Myself and two people. Senator Ben Murray Bruce and I, a former President had asked us to make sure that we promote him because he felt that he was a good candidate.
“And so, I did my best. I spent my money into projects to promote him. I was responsible for Peter Obi becoming the running mate to Waziri Atiku Abubakar in 2019. I’m a meticulous record keeper. Atiku and Peter Obi cannot deny it.
“Peter Obi was lobbying, sending me his resume. We did everything we did. I have not collected a dime from Peter Obi.
“Now what happened was that Peter left our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) without informing any of us who helped him. That’s okay. He should have done that, but he left the party just suddenly. And then obviously we couldn’t go with him because he didn’t tell he was leaving. Even if he told us, we wouldn’t have gone with him. We had our party and our candidate, and we are trying to build our party.” Omokri said.