CurrentReport Blog In the aftermath of the 2023 elections, the Nigerian political landscape remains fraught with tension as accusations fly between the Presidency and the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Accusations of ethno-religious manipulation have surfaced, with President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, pointing fingers at Obi for allegedly introducing divisive tactics into Nigerian politics.
During a recent appearance on Mic On with Seun Okinbaloye, Onanuga didn’t mince words, accusing Obi of stoking the flames of religion and ethnicity during the electoral campaign. He asserted that Tinubu’s administration is steadfastly focused on governance matters and not preoccupied with the activities of Obi and his supporters, known as the Obidients.
“Onanuga declared that Tinubu’s administration is not focused or concerned with Obi and his followers, the Obidients. Featuring on Mic On with Seun Okinbaloye, the presidential aide assured that Tinubu’s administration remained focused and undistracted.”
Despite the accusations, Onanuga reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to its governance agenda, emphasizing that their attention remains fixed on steering the country forward. He highlighted the dangers posed by the injection of ethnicity and religion into the political discourse, suggesting that Obi’s campaign tactics had exacerbated existing fault lines within the Nigerian society.
He said: “As of now, we are busy with governance and we don’t want our attention diverted from the focus of what the government is trying to do. We are very busy, we’re not even looking at them now. 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 passion and that was the way the election went at that time, he was inflaming ethnic and religious passions, bringing two dangerous things to our politics: ethnicity and religion.”
