Presidency accuses Peter Obi of exploiting ethnic and religious divides during 2023 elections
The Presidency has criticized Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, accusing him of stoking ethnic and religious tensions to advance his political agenda.
Bayo Onanuga, a presidential aide, made the allegation during a live podcast titled ‘Mic On,’ hosted by Seun Okinbaloye.
Onanuga asserted that Obi’s campaign tactics during the election period exacerbated ethnic and religious divides in the country, describing his actions as detrimental to Nigerian politics.
He said Obi allegedly exploited ethnic and religious sentiments to garner support.
His words: “What I know about the campaign of Obi was that for the first time in a very long while in our country, we had a candidate who was inflaming ethnic passions.
“And that was the way the election went at that time. He was inflaming ethnic passions, religious passions, bringing two dangerous things to our politics – ethnicity and religion. That is what he did. And those things were dangerous to our Nigerian politics.”
Onanuga added that his principal did not choose his running mate because he was a fellow Muslim.
He said: “If Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) had done that, we would not have lost Lagos. (Muslim-Muslim ticket) was not religious. Muslim-Muslim ticket did not even win him massive votes, let’s say, in Borno, where his deputy came from.
“The man he picked as his VP, he believed that Shettima had the qualities to support him or to be his Vice President. That is why he picked him. He was not looking at religion.”
