Former Anambra State governor
Peter Obi on Friday retracted his acknowledgement of Bola Tinubu as Nigeria
president.
Obi, the candidate of the Labour
Party, contested and lost the 2023 presidential election to Tinubu who was
declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in
February.
The ex Anambra State governor
along with former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) are challenging Tinubu’s victory in court. Both contestants who
came third and second respectively claim that they won the election and want
Tinubu sacked by the court.
Since Tinubu’s swearing in on Monday, May 29, 2023 when he succeeded former President Muhammadu Buhari, neither Obi nor Atiku has addressed Tinubu as president. But Obi did on Friday.
What happened?
President Tinubu was received to a heroic welcome to Lagos, a state he governed
from 1999 to 2007 and has been influential in choosing successive leaders on
Wednesday. It was his first visit since he assumed office as Nigeria president.
Hundereds of his supporters and
political dignitaries, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu were
on the ground to give him a state welcome.
However, the visit became a major
point of criticism for the president after a long motorcade accompanied him to
his new private residence. Multiple SUVs were seen speeding ahead and behind
Tinubu’s car. This is at a time Nigerians are groaning over the increase in
petrol prices due to fuel subsidy removal announced by Tinubu during his inaugural
presidential speech.
Tinubu’s aide on digital media
Olusegun Dada in a tweet said
“the official vehicles of the president and principal aides make up less than
10% of the Motorcade” under criticism.
“The other vehicles in the
Presidential motorcade belong to Several State Governors, heads of all security
agencies, Party Leaders and political associates of the President who were all
at the airport to receive him,” Dada said.
Obi calls Tinubu “Mr
President” and deletes tweet
Amid a wave of critisms and defence from Tinubu’s supporters, Obi said
“sacrifices for a better Nigeria must start from the leaders at all levels of
government.”
The Labour party candidate in the
initial tweet said he is yet to see the video “allegedly showing Mr President
with about a 120-car convoy.”
Hours after his comment, Obi
deleted the tweet and replaced
with another that does not address Tinubu as president.
“We cannot continue to preach for
the people to sacrifice without sacrificing too,” Obi said in a later tweet.
“The sacrifices must now start from the leaders visibly, and measurably at all
times because the people are suffering. We must now be at the forefront of
addressing the suffering.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com