Obi’s supporters planning mayhem; he should be held responsible for anarchy – Presidency

President Bola Tinubu’s government on Saturday accused Labour Party’s Peter Obi and his supporters of instigating a ‘coup’ and should be held responsible for anarchy.

Bayo Onanuga, a media aide to Tinubu, in an article accused Obi and his supporters of planning protests to instigate anarchy in the country.

“Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy,” Mr Onanuga wrote. “Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.”

Continuing, Onanuga said “If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’état, which is also high treason. President Tinubu has a four-year mandate to run his agenda. Those calling for protest should wait till 2027 to either re-elect him or elect their messiah, Mr Peter Obi.”

Though the country’s economic crisis predated Tinubu’s government, his recent policies—including the removal of fuel subsidy and floating the Naira—exacerbated the situation. The removal of the subsidy has caused petrol prices to surge from N145 to N770 per litre, and the naira has depreciated to roughly N1,520 to the dollar.

Economic experts and the International Monetary Fund lauded the measures as bold reforms. However, the resultant inflation has sparked protests across several states, including Niger, Osun, Ibadan, and Lagos.

The federal government had distributed trucks of rice to states to cushion effects of hunger and raised minimum wage to N70,000 from N30,000.