Peter Obi Under Pressure to Leave Nigeria, Says Labour Party

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

Labour Party, yesterday, raised the alarm over the continued pressure from concerned Nigerians and family members of its presidential candidate in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, to flee the country for his own safety.

The party made the disclosure yesterday in a statement by its Presidential Campaign Spokesperson, Dr Tanko Yunusa, where he expressed worries over alleged plans by agents of the ruling APC and some security agencies to arrest him on false charges of inciting insurrection in the country.

Tanko disclosed that Obi was recently contacted by associates, elder statesmen, family and friends with concerns for his personal safety, saying no amount of pressure would force Obi to flee the country.

“These concerns have increased intensely in the last few days as immense pressure, has been mounted directly on Mr. Obi to leave the country, no doubt from sources allied to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its agents in the security services.

“Mr Obi has been repeatedly and categorically told that he has a choice to leave the country or face the prospect of being arrested on false charges of inciting insurrection in the country.

“It is difficult to fathom and indeed unfortunate and regrettable that state institutions have become part of a well-calculated, deliberate and orchestrated campaign of calumny by the APC to discredit and delegitimise Mr Peter Obi and compel him to abandon his right to seek redress in court following the outcome of the last election, which was adjudged both locally and internationally to have failed to meet any standard of credibility or fairness,” he said.

He said part of the grand design was the circulation a doctored audio call that has so far went viral in the last few days, adding that at no time throughout the campaign and now “did Mr Peter Obi ever say, think or even imply that the 2023 election is or was a religious war.”

Tanko described the attempt to manipulate Nigerians through this tactics as “very sad and wicked”, noting that the party’s legal team would be taking actions against peddlers of the fake audio conversation.

He said, more worrisome was the fact that, “despite the public denunciation of the fake audio call, its contents have been translated to other Nigerian languages and circulated in most parts of Northern Nigeria with some of our Moslem clerics deceived and instigated to use the contents for their sermons at various Mosques during the usual Friday prayers.

“This is a dangerous development at a time when the APC led-government and the APC party, which have been awarded undeserved and unfair victory should be more concerned in addressing the ethnic and religious frictions unfortunately created by the outcome of the elections.

“Yet unsatisfied but determined to cause more problems, Mr Lai Mohammed, who fancies himself as modern day Gobbeal is on a tour of some selected countries to present an alternative story about the 2023 discredited election, and from his first statement in Washington have assumed the role of the courts by stating that Mr Obi has no pathway to victory. This is a direct intimidation of the courts and a waste of taxpayers’ money (Nigeria’s money).”

Tanko further disclosed that the party was aware that there were “many more campaigns of calumny against Mr Peter Obi, planned for the near future both before and during the court process.

He warned, however, that Labour Party “want to make it clear to the APC party, APC led-government and its agents that Mr Peter Obi, a widely traveled man, has no intention to leave the country at this time irrespective of the pressure on him and his family.

“Obi is determined as he had stated in his first and only press conference after the election to challenge the outcome of the election and the process has begun. It is his fundamental right,” he said.