8 months ago
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The Chief Spokesman for the Obi/ Datti 2023 Presidential Campaign, Yunusa Tanko, has advised the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the president, Bayo Onanuga, to stop insulting the collective intelligence of Nigerians.
Naija News reports that Tanko stated this while countering Onanuga’s accusation that the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, was flaming religious and ethnic issues to push his political ambition.
Speaking on the ‘Mic On podcast’, a programme hosted by Nigerian journalist, Seun Okinbaloye, Onanuga said any political campaign based on religious and ethnic passion is dangerous to the country’s democracy.
Onanuga also alleged that Obi’s supporters are desperate to see the downfall of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
However, in a chat with Vanguard, Tanko said Onanuga was making false claims against Peter Obi because the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its principal, Tinubu, were the worst culprits for flaming religion and ethnic issues.
Tanko also debunked Onanuga’s claims that Peter Obi and his supporters were working against Tinubu’s government, saying that the former Governor of Anambra State has since moved on from the 2023 election results that they ‘grabbed, snatched and ran away with’.
He added that Peter Obi is more focused on private and public engagements, which has been nation-building.
Tanko said: “Mr. Onanuga must stop this insult on our collective intelligence. He, like his principal and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were the worst culprits, when it came to the issue of inflaming ethnic and religious passions.
“Was it Peter Obi that used ‘Emilokan, Yoruba lokan’ and Muslim/ Muslim ticket; as a battle cry for the elections? What is he talking about? Was it Peter Obi that organised attacks on innocent Nigerians, whose only offence was attempting to exercise their civil duties by voting for candidates of their choice in Lagos and elsewhere?
“Where was Onanuga when his principal, now President Bola Tinubu, instructed supporters in a widely circulated video to ‘grab, snatch and run’ with power? What was more inciting than that?
“I challenge Mr. Onanuga to come out with one shred of evidence to prove that Mr. Peter Obi did any such thing before, during and after the election. I think he lives in the illusion that Nigerians have forgotten so soon.
“Mr. Obi has moved on since the election results were ‘grabbed, snatched and ran away with. His focus in all his engagements in private and in public has always been that of nation-building. Mr. Obi will not shy away from playing his role as a leading opposition figure when those who grabbed power are failing and forcing Nigerians to suffer unjustly.
“If Onanuga expects us to sing the praises of his principal for making Nigeria a living hell with galloping inflation, rising food prices and insecurity, I’m afraid, he’ll continue to be disappointed.”
