- Obi: “Protest Is Not A Big Deal, I Endorse It”
- Onanuga: “Stop Hiding, Come Out And Lead The Protest”
By Abiola Olawale
The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, have continued to exchange words over the planned nationwide protest scheduled for August 1.
Obi, a two-term governor of Anambra State, who spoke with the press during a courtesy visit to Governor Alex Otti of Abia state at his country home in Nvosi, Isialangwa South Local Government Area, expressed his support for the nationwide protest scheduled for August.
He maintained that the Nigerian Constitution allows room for protest as it is the right of citizens.
He, however, warned against violence, saying such demonstrations should be done within the confines of the law.
He said: “In the Nigerian Constitution, protest is allowed.
“All I plea for those who are protesting is to do so within the law and in a civil manner that allows us as a nation to show that we live within the law.
“We all have to listen to what Nigerians are going through and I thank our governor (Alex Otti) for doing so. It is important.”
“What I will say to security agencies is that they manage the situation again within the law. We should not strive to be overbearing.
“There is nothing wrong (with protesting). Protest is allowed everywhere globally. I also say (that) people protest in my house. It is for us to listen to those who are protesting.
“Why are they protesting? Engage them, that is what governance is all about. You talk with them, there is nothing wrong in that,” he added.
In a swift response, Onanuga, a Senior presidential aide, challenged Obi to stop hiding behind the scenes and fully express himself.
Onanuga said the intention of the former Anambra governor is well known, adding that he should be at the forefront of the protest.
Onanuga, in a post via his account on the X platform, said: “Now that Peter Obi has come out to endorse the planned protest by his supporters, he should do what President Tinubu and former President Buhari did in the past, by coming out openly to lead the protesters. That is what leadership is about. Not playing the master puppeteer behind the scenes should be in the forefront of the protest and help in curbing their possible excesses.”
This comes after Onanuga had, in a lengthy tweet, accused the supporters of Obi of instigating the proposed nationwide protest.
Onanuga alleged that the sponsors of the planned protests were not democrats but anarchists.
He also claimed that the organisers are the same individuals who hijacked the #ENDSARS protest of 2020.
However, Obi denied the allegations and issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the senior presidential aide to retract the allegations and tender a public apology.
The former Governor of Anambra also demanded a payment of N5 billion in damages for defamation.
Obi, through his counsel, Alex Ejesieme, in a letter addressed to Onanuga, said the allegation, which went viral on social and mainstream media, “maligned his hard-earned reputation.”
According to the legal counsel, the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass Obi in the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society.
