That was the way the election
went at that time. He was inflaming ethnic passions, religious passions,
bringing two dangerous dimensions to our politics – ethnicity and religion.
That is what he did. And those things were dangerous to Nigerian politics,”
Onanuga said.
“Of course, it is very clear. Up till now, some are still writing
that Bola Tinubu stole the presidency, and some people are saying that the man
who came third actually won the election, and they are very unapologetic about
that.
“How could somebody who came third thought he could have won that
election? “You can even see when they were talking about the naira, some people
were just happy that the naira was going downhill. You can trace them. People,
who are saying so are members of the Obidient movement.”
When asked if he
believed the Obidient movement wanted the Tinubu government to fail, Onanuga
said, “Of course, it is clear.” The presidential aide also said Obi never
commends the government when it does something good but very quick to tweet
when it is about something bad.
Stop insulting Nigerians’ intelligence, Tinubu’s Muslim/ Muslim ticket
more inciting- TANKO
Countering, the Chief Spokesman
for the Obi/ Datti 2003 Presidential Campaign, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, advised Mr. Bayo
Onanuga, to stop insulting the collective intelligence of Nigerians.
In a chat with Vanguard, Tanko
said that Onanuga was trying to rewrite history by making false claims against
Obi. 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.
Tanko also debunked Onanuga’s
claims that Obi was working against Tinubu’s government, saying, “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.”
