Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, has leveled a serious allegation against Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
In his reaction to Obi’s tweet on the Nigerian economy and how companies are leaving the country, Onanuga said the motive of the former governor of Anambra State was clear.
The president’s spokesperson questioned the reason for Obi’s review of the Nigerian economy at this time, adding that the ex-governor planned to ‘work up his mob’ ahead of the planned protests to ‘destabilize the country.’
“Labour Party failed presidential candidate, Peter Obi has come up with his misleading, half-truth statistics again. The big question is why this economic review at this time? The motive is clear: he wants to work up his mob plotting to destabilize the country from next week,” Onanuga tweeted.
NLC condemns FG’s attitude to planned protests
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the government’s attitude towards the looming protest.
In a statement on Monday, July 22, 2024, Joe Ajaero, the NLC president, said it is condescending to dismiss the hardship that inspired the planned protests as a sponsored political descent.
The NLC chief said, “It is, therefore, condescending and dismissive to describe the daily brutish ordeal that Nigerians are going through as a sponsored political dissent. Even if it is so, it is still within the confines of citizens’ rights to protest on political grounds. Just that the current unease in the country does not need political motivation to spark and splurge.
“All that the hurting citizens demand from their government is a listening ear and an empathetic heart. Maybe, that is what the organisers of the protest are looking for given their continued notices on different social media platforms.”
Ajaero said the government’s reaction to the upcoming protests offers no remedy to the pains and frustration of Nigerians.