The Labour Party (LP), on Saturday, dismissed the claim by Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s spokesman, that linked its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the proposed nationwide protests.
Onanuga had alleged that Obi’s supporters were planning mayhem in Nigeria.
He also painted Obi as a failed presidential candidate, and said he should be held responsible for whatever crisis would emanate from the action.
However, the Labour Party, in a statement by Obiora Ifoh, its National Publicity Secretary, said the party is known for being a peaceful party and has on several occasions asked its followers to follow peace at all times.
The statement reads: “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to a tweet purportedly from one of the presidential aides, Mr Bayo Onanuga, linking the Labour Party, its national leader Peter Obi, and very many notable figures in our party to the proposed ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest. We say that there is no truth in that and the tweet is just the author’s figment of his imagination.
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“Labour Party is known for being a very peaceful party and it has at several occasions asked its followers to follow peace at all times. We are not known as a lawless group, as was evident in the aftermath of the last general election. It is therefore delusional for anyone to link our supporters to the planned protest. Labour Party, Peter Obi and our supporters are not planning any protests.
“However, peaceful protests all over the world are initiated and executed by the people and not by the opposition. No opposition has any control over protests. Popular protests, such as in Kenya, Egypt and several other places, were a direct registration of the people’s frustration against the government. The people have the right to protest and it is within their constitutional right.
“It is therefore puerile for the government or anyone for that matter, to begin to look for who to blame for the bad governance that is being witnessed in Nigeria today. Nigeria can still get it right if the right policies are initiated. We also advise that some aides of the presidency must be cautioned to avoid incendiary pronouncements capable of combusting the nation, all in the name of playing politics.”
