The Nigerian Presidency has replied former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi’s comments on the collapse of democracy under President Bola Tinubu, saying he would not be able to stay in Abuja and make such comments if democracy had truly collapsed.
Obi had, while speaking at the 60th birthday celebration of former Imo State governor and former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, said all the democratic structures had collapsed under Tinubu following the imposition of a state of emergency rule in Rivers State by the President.
“They started in 1999 and laid the foundation. Some people came and added a decking, others tried to raise it to the first floor, but then some people came and knocked everything down,” Obi had said.
“That’s the situation we are in right now—everything has been knocked down, and nothing works. I can speak on this with experience. I became a governor through the courts. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar were in government, I did not pay the courts a single naira. I was in my office, and the court declared me the winner.”
“That cannot happen in Nigeria today. When I was being impeached, the president sent people to intervene on my behalf. Ken Nnamani came and pleaded with the House not to impeach me.
“Today, the president impeaches people directly. Back then, they were begging in my house not to impeach me, even though they were in the PDP, and I was in APGA.
“They pleaded, and President Obasanjo personally called me, asking, ‘Peter, are you okay?’ Even when I was eventually impeached, he called again to check on me, saying, ‘Are you okay? Are you safe?” the former Anambra State governor had added.
But while responding to the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described Obi as a ‘discontented and disgruntled individual’ who does not mean well for Nigeria.
In the statement he shared on his X handle, Onanuga said:
“I listened multiple times to former Governor Peter Obi’s statement in this clip, where he claims that democracy has collapsed in Nigeria. His hyperbolic remarks, designed for headlines, lack deep reflection and a solid logical foundation.
“How can a democracy that has strengthened over the past 26 years be said to have collapsed? Only a discontented and disgruntled Peter Obi, who benefits from the very free speech that democracy provides, could perceive such a democratic downfall through his lens.
“If democracy had indeed collapsed, as Peter claims, and we were living under a regime that opposed democratic principles, he would not have been able to make his comments on Monday at Emeka Ihedioha’s colloquium.
“I urge him to watch his words and refrain from playing to the gallery.”
