Presidency Declares Planned Hardship Protests ‘Treason’, Blames Peter Obi

In a strongly worded statement, the Bola Tinubu administration has accused supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party 2023 presidential candidate, of sponsoring the planned nationwide protests against economic hardship.

President Tinubu, through his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, warned that the planned demonstrations could lead to anarchy and said Obi should be held accountable for any resulting crisis.

Onanuga, without evidence, further alleged that the protest organisers are the same individuals involved in the 2020 ENDSARS protests, which he claims were infiltrated by separatist elements.

Onanuga asserted that the protesters later joined the Labour Party to support Obi in the 2023 election.

The presidential aide claimed that the protest, promoted on social media with hashtags such as ‘EndBadGovernance’ and ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ is an attempt to destabilizlse Nigeria due to Obi’s loss in the last presidential election.

Onanuga described the organisers as “anarchists” rather than democrats, accusing them of attempting a “civilian coup” against President Tinubu.

He identified several social media accounts he claimed are linked to the protest, including an anonymous user operating an internet radio station and individuals he describes as “rabid Obi supporters.”

While calling on security agencies to investigate the alleged organisers, Onanuga argued that many countries are facing economic challenges and the appropriate response in a democracy is to wait for the next election to change a government rather than incite unrest.

The statement partly reads, “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.

“There is “General Oluchi,” a woman who goes by the screen name “A Field Marshall of the Han Dynasty.”

“She has been sending out letters of mobilisation. She even pinned a “Week 6 “ letter urging Nigerians to wake up and take control of their country, using the language of IPOB, Peter Obi, and his supporters.

“Another member of the malcontents is Brother Bernard, also known as Mikael C. Bernard. He is not based in Nigeria because he was once busted over Binance and fraudulent crypto businesses in Nigeria. Bernard was the man who once wrote that the naira should go down to zero.”

Onanuga added, “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.”