Key highlights
- Peter Obi denied discussing or encouraging anyone to undermine the Nigerian state, describing the allegations as malicious and fictitious.
- Obi said he has observed various campaigns of calumny directed at his person, noting the consistent efforts to portray him as quite contrary to what he is, and his core values,
- He insists that he is committed to due process, and presently seeking redress in Court.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has reacted to allegations of treason and stocking insurrection levelled against him by the Federal Government after losing the February 2023 presidential election.
Obi said he never discussed or encouraged anyone to undermine the Nigerian state, describing the allegations as malicious and fictitious.
This was made known by Peter Obi through a statement on his Official Twitter account on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, where he insisted that he has never sponsored or preached any action against the Nigerian state.
Obi was reacting to an earlier statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, during an interview with some international media organisations on the just concluded 2023 polls, where he accused Obi of inciting people to violence while seeking redress in court over the outcome of the election.
What Peter Obi is saying
Peter Obi in his statement said,
- “In the past few days, I have observed various campaigns of calumny directed at my person, with the latest being allegations attributed to the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed from Washington DC.’’
- “It is most unfortunate that these consistent efforts to portray me quite contrary to what I am, and my core values, is coming from such high quarters. Minister Lai accusing me of stoking insurrection is malicious and fictitious.
- “I have never discussed or encouraged anyone to undermine the Nigerian state; I have never sponsored or preached any action against the Nigerian state.
- “Those initiating these actions have increasingly used their official positions and agents to make false allegations against me. I am on record as always, advocating for peace and issue-based campaign and never campaigned based on ethnicity or religion.
- “I am committed to due process, and presently seeking redress in the Court. I urge those engaged in this demarketing process to stop presenting Nigeria in a such bad light.
- “Our future generations deserve a new Nigeria, where they can live a secure and decent life like their counterparts in other climes. It is possible.”
In case you missed it
- Lai Mohammed had on behalf of the Federal Government warned Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, against inciting people to violence over the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
- He declared that it is a treasonable offence for Oni and Baba-Ahmed to threaten that democracy will come to an end if the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, is sworn in on May 29, 2023.
- Mohammed had said that it was wrong for Obi in one breadth to seek redress in court over the outcome of the polls and in another breadth incite people to violence.
- He also accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party of being a desperate person and not the Democrat that he claimed to be.