YUNUSA Tanko, the Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has said the former Anambra State governor would not stop speaking out on critical national issues as an opposition figure.
He said this in response to allegations by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga against Obi.
Onanuga, while speaking on a programme titled ‘Mic On podcast’, hosted by Channel TV’s Seun Okinbaloye on Sunday, March 31, accused Obi of promoting “religious and ethnic” issues during the last election.
According to Onanuga, the nation’s democracy is at risk from any political campaign driven by religious or ethnic feelings.
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He claimed that Obi’s followers hoped that President Bola Tinubu’s government would fail.
“That was the way the election went at that time. He was inflaming ethnic passions, 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 claimed.
He accused Obi’s supporters of insisting he won the election: “And they are very unapologetic about that. How could somebody who came third think he could have won that election?”
He added that Obi was always eager to tweet about negative news but never praised the government whenever it did well.
Responding to Onanuga’s claims, Tanko, said Onanuga should stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerians.
He blamed Tinubu’s Muslim/ Muslim ticket during the presidential election for religious intolerance.
Tanko claimed in an interview with Vanguard that Onanuga was fabricating allegations against Obi to change the course of history.
“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?” Tanko asked.
He challenged Onanuga to come up with evidence to prove that Obi did any such thing before, during and after the election.
Tanko also debunked Onanuga’s claims that Obi was working against Tinubu’s government.
He said Obi’s focus had always been nation-building and that he would 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.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance