Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the president, has leveled accusations against Mr. Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), alleging that he is exploiting “religious and ethnic” tensions to advance his political aspirations.
During his appearance on the ‘Mic On podcast’, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, a journalist with Channels Television, Onanuga expressed concern over any political campaign that relies on stirring religious and ethnic sentiments, emphasizing the dangers such tactics pose to the country’s democracy.
Additionally, Onanuga claimed that Obi’s supporters are actively seeking the downfall of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“What I know about the campaign of Obi was that for the first time in a very long while in our country, we had a candidate, who was inflaming ethnic passions.
“That was the way the election went at that time. He was inflaming ethnic passions, and religious passions, bringing two dangerous dimensions to our politics – ethnicity and religion. That is what he did. And those things were dangerous to Nigerian politics,” Onanuga said. “Of course, it is very clear.
“Up till now, some are still writing that Bola Tinubu stole the presidency, and some people are saying that the man who came third actually won the election, and they are very unapologetic about that.
“How could somebody who came third think he could have won that election? You can even see when they were talking about the naira, some people were just happy that the naira was going downhill.
“You can trace them. People, who are saying so are members of the Obedient movement.” When asked if he believed the Obidient movement wanted the Tinubu government to fail, Onanuga said, “Of course, it is clear.”
The presidential aide also said Obi never commends the government when it does something good but very quick to tweet when it is about something bad.
In Response to Onanuga’s accusations, the Chief Spokesman for the Obi/ Datti 2003 Presidential Campaign, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, advised Mr. Bayo Onanuga, to stop insulting the collective intelligence of Nigerians.
In a chat with Vanguard, Tanko said that Onanuga was trying to rewrite history by making false claims against Obi. Tanko said:
“Mr. Onanuga must stop this insult on our collective intelligence. He, like his principal and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were the worst culprits, when it came to the issue of inflaming ethnic and religious passions.
“Was it Peter Obi that used ‘Emilokan, Yoruba lokan’ and Muslim/ Muslim ticket; as a battle cry for the elections? What is he talking about? Was it Peter Obi that organised attacks on innocent Nigerians, whose only offence was attempting to exercise their civil duties by voting for candidates of their choice in Lagos and elsewhere?
“Where was Onanuga when his principal, now President Bola Tinubu, instructed supporters in a widely circulated video to ‘grab, snatch and run’ with power? What was more inciting than that?
“I challenge Mr. Onanuga to come out with one shred of evidence to prove that Mr. Peter Obi did any such thing before, during and after the election. I think he lives in the illusion that Nigerians have forgotten so soon. Tanko also debunked Onanuga’s claims that Obi was working against Tinubu’s government, saying,
“Mr. Obi has moved on since the election results were ‘grabbed, snatched and ran away with. His focus in all his engagements in private and in public has always been that of nation-building. Mr. Obi will not shy away from playing his role as a leading opposition figure when those who grabbed power are failing and forcing Nigerians to suffer unjustly.
“If Onanuga expects us to sing the praises of his principal for making Nigeria a living hell with galloping inflation, rising food prices and insecurity, I’m afraid, he’ll continue to be disappointed.”