- Obi was presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election.
- On Saturday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, alleged that supporters of Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra, are behind the proposed nationwide protest.
The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) has vehemently denounced the “outlandish, vicious, and unfounded allegations” made by Bayo Onanuga, a spokesperson for the Presidency, against Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
Onanuga alleged that Obi is the mastermind behind a planned protest in the country and should be held accountable for any violence that may ensue.
However, in a statement issued by Yunusa Tanko, POMR’s spokesman, the group countered that they have reliable information that the allegations are fabricated to justify Obi’s arrest, restrict his freedom, and silence his advocacy for good governance.
The group said that Peter Obi, by his mien in and out of political office, has not in any way shown or been associated with violence even in the face of the most obvious provocations.
“He has always shown even during the electioneering that he is issue-driven as he carries on without calling anybody’s name.
“POMR is also aware that multiple attack dogs have been hired and strategically deployed to ensure that Obi does not enjoy the ear of the Nigerian populace who are keen on hearing his voice on issues.
“These spin doctors and hirelings, to justify their pay, indulge in all kinds of falsehood ostensibly to distract Obi and confuse Nigerians who already see Obi as suiting balm in the current turbulent political and economic environment.
“All the problems real and imagined created by their insensitivity and lavish lifestyle they have curiously tried to link to Obi.
“Notable challenges of the administration which are a consequence of their actions and inactions like fuel subsidy fallouts, growing poverty in the land, inflation, nepotism and unresolved historical conflicts among others they blame all on Obi.
“POMR therefore wish to urge Nigerians to ignore the Presidency’s cheap blackmail as Obi and the Obidient family all over the country and in the Diaspora remain resolute in their search for a new Nigeria that is POssible and would not be cowed or be made to lose focus,” the group said.