The Presidency on Saturday accused the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 poll, Mr Peter Obi, as being the sponsors of the planned nationwide protests against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
It therefore urged nation’s security agencies to interrogate the “agents of destabilisation” behind the proposed demonstrations.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in a long post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, disclosed that the same individuals who hijacked the 2020 ENDSARS protests are behind the planned demonstrations, spreading hashtags like ‘EndBadGovernance’ and ‘Tinubu Must Go.’
The Special Adviser, who described the protests masterminds as “anarchists” and “bad losers” who cannot wait for the 2027 general elections, but seeking to destabilize Nigeria through a “civilian coup, also submitted that Obi, should be held responsible if the protests turn into anarchy.
Onanuga further identified some key individuals including a faceless internet radio station owner and a Labour Party chief, as being involved in the planned protests.
He warned that the protesters’ calls for “revolution” and “ending an elected government” amount to high treason and urged security agencies to take action against those threatening the country’s stability.
The post entitled “REVEALED: Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy”, recalled how a similar call for protest in 2020 was hijacked by other elements, leaving the nation’s economic nerve centre, Lagos State, reeling in massive destruction and looting of public and private property.
Onanuga in the post stated, inter alia:
“Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.
“The protest planners are also the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020. ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness.
“IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their own agenda. Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today.
“Two years after ENDSARS, the IPOB and the gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathiser of their cause.
“They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’. They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election.
“As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Tinubu.
“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason.
“I have been on the trail of one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja. The anonymous person joined X in August 2022 and has 520 followers today, among whom are FS Yusuf, another rabid Obi supporter, and Professor Pat Utomi, a Labour Party chief and a guy on X who goes by the pseudonym Peter Obi’s First Son. PTM’s profile image has someone holding the inscription` Certificate Forger Not My President, ‘ with a photo of Peter Obi as an inset. Only Obi’s supporters will be talking about certificate forgery long after the Supreme Court dismissed the allegation.
“In the past 24 hours, this faceless X user has been whipping up the gullible to join the protest being planned and also posting the activities of his Messiah, Peter Obi. He retweets Peter Obi often. In one of the posts, a video shows a teenager, who is said to be in the North, printing T-shirts emblazoned with “EndBadGovernance in Nigeria 2024′.
“There is also a retweeted post by Babatunde Gbadamosi, a failed and frustrated politician in Lagos. In it, he refers to his earlier post urging people “ to identify APC members, sponsors, supporters, enablers, thugs, promoters, and appointees.” The police and DSS ought to have arrested the man for making a brazen threat to political opponents”.
The presidential Adviser stressed that every country faces economic challenges, but civilized nations address leadership concerns through elections, not violent protests.
He also listed federal government’s efforts to address the cost of living crisis, including over 100% increase in minimum wage, student loans, and palliatives such as food distribution.
Onanuga also highlighted improvements in the economy, including reduced inflation, increased revenue generation, and a booming stock market.
He was however quick to advise Nigerians to consider these on-going government’s efforts before joining the protests, and warned that those calling for demonstrations should wait until the 2027 elections to effect leadership change.
His words: “Security agents should, by now, begin to interrogate these agents of destabilisation. There is no country in the world where people are not going through some economic challenges and where the cost of living is not a major issue.
“No country is immune from economic turbulence at the moment. Civilised and democratic people wait for another election to make leadership changes. They don’t trigger mayhem in their countries by staging protests, the end of which nobody can predict.
“Nigerian citizens must consider the government’s attitude and concern about the cost of living crisis when deciding whether to join the protests by the Labour Party and IPOB supporters.
“The Tinubu government has not been found wanting in this regard. The minimum wage has been increased by more than 100 percent. Loans are being disbursed to students in tertiary schools.
“A credit corporation has been launched to promote consumption credit. Palliatives, including the latest distribution of 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states and Abuja, are being rolled out. Businesses, such as pharmaceuticals, are being assisted. The Federal and state governments are investing heavily in agriculture to produce more food.
“The economy is improving, inflation is slowing, the national debt has been reduced in dollar terms, and the FIRS has increased revenue generation to record levels. Investors are coming back to our country. Our stock market is the best in the world, with a 33 percent return on investment.
“President Tinubu has a four-year mandate to run his agenda. Those calling for protest should wait till 2027 to either re-elect him or elect their Messiah, Mr Peter Obi”.
Deji Elumoye
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