- Onanuga: “Peter Obi’s supporters behind planned nationwide protest”
- Labour Reacts: “Obi, Labour Party Not Involved In ‘EndBadGovernance’ Protest”
By Abiola Olawale
The presidency and the Labour Party have begun to exchange words over reported plans by some individuals to organise a nationwide protest aimed at expressing their dissatisfaction with the current state of Nigerian economy.
Reports emerging tend to indicate that some individuals are allegedly planning to hold a nationwide protest between August 1 and 15 to express dissatisfaction with what they see as the rising cost of living and economic hardship in the country.
However, Mr Bayo Onanuga , special adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu accused the supporters of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi of instigating the proposed nationwide protest.
Onanuga who took to his official X handle said the planned protest is being organised by the supporters of Obi and the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The senior presidential aide maintained that the organisers are the same individuals who hijacked the #ENDSARS protest of 2020.
He said those “instigating” the protest are calling for a “civilian coup”. He 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 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’.”
However, the Labour Party in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, on Saturday denied any involvement in the planned protest.
The party said the Federal government probably made up the allegation to stop Obi’s propagation of good governance, which “the presidency found injurious to their lavish lifestyle.”
According to Ifoh, Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State has not in any way shown or been associated with violence, even in the midst of the most obvious provocations.
The Publicity Secretary also urged Nigerians to ignore what he described as “the Presidency’s cheap blackmail as Obi and his supporters all over the country and in the diaspora remain resolute in their search for a new Nigeria.”
The statement reads in part: “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.
“Labour Party is known for being a very peaceful party and it has on several occasions asked its followers to follow peace at all times. We are 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.
“However, 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.”
