Onanuga Bombs Obi, Says You Wouldn’t have been Able to Make.Your Comments in Abuja if Democracy Had Failed

The Presidency has reacted to the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, terming him a “disgruntled” man after he stated that President Ahmed Tinubu had collapsed Nigeria’s democracy.

Responding to Obi, Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, through one of his official social media handles on X,. formerly Twitter, dismissed Obi’s assertion.

Obi made the assertion at the 60th birthday colloquium of former short lived governor of Imo State, Emeja Ihedioha in Abuja where he expressed the view over the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The former Anambra State governor asserted the country’s democracy had been toppled, citing his personal experience as evidence of how bad things had deteriorated.

But Onanuga countered Obi’s claims, dismissing his remarks as shallow and lacking in logical foundation.

“How can a democracy that has progressed in the past 26 years be said to have collapsed?
“Only an unhappy and frustrated Peter Obi, who reaps the very free speech that democracy makes possible, could imagine such a collapse of democracy from his perspective”, Onanuga fired back.

Onanuga also added that if indeed democracy had collapsed, Obi would not have been able to speak his mind at the 60th birthday ceremony of former Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha.

“If we were living under a regime against democratic principles, he would not have been free to utter what he did,” Onanuga said.

The presidential spokesperson urged Obi to be judicious with words and not be playing to the gallery, adding, “I urge him to be mindful of his words and not issue any statement that would be seen as inciting or divisive”.

Obi’s comments had sparked a fierce debate on social media, with some Nigerians agreeing with his assessment of the country’s democracy, while others defended the actions of the presidency.

The former presidential candidate had cited his own experiences as a governor, including his impeachment and reinstatement by the courts, as evidence of the erosion of democratic values in the country.

In a report, Obi clarified, “They started in 1999 and installed it. Some people came and included a decking, others tried to bring it to the first floor, but afterwards some people came and destroyed it all. That is where we are today—everything has been destroyed, and nothing works.”