•••Demands Apology, Retraction of statement, N5b within 72 hours
He Is A loquacious and Disruptive Backseat Driver – APC
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi has demanded an apology and a retraction from the Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to the President, Mr. Bayo Onanuga for linking to the planned mass protest in August.
Recall that the Presidential Spokesperson had on July 20, 2024, claimed in his X handle @aonanuga1956 that “ Peter Ob’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria and that Obi should be held responsible for anarchy”
Obi writing through his counsel, Chief Alex Ejesieme, (SAN) of the MADIBA Chambers said that the allegation which was widely published in social and mainstream media and read by many within and outside the country maligned his hard-earned reputation as a man who indulges in violence when all his antecedents are vivid that he abhors violence even in the face of extreme provocation.
“It’s our client’s conviction that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass him by the estimation of every right thinking member of the society”
The letter continued that the allegation may have achieved its insipid motive as well-wishers from all around the globe have inundated Obi to register their shock.
“His appellation as ‘Okwute’ ( the Rock) notwithstanding, the demeaning and scandalous publication has also caused a serious emotional injury to our client given his decades of stellar stewardship in private and public life.
“ Consequently, we have our clients mandate to demand that you retract the statement made in the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him within 72 hours of the receipt of this letter in not less than 4 National Dailies to wit: Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch and the Cable, including your verified X“@aonanuga1956.
“Our client is also making an unequivocal demand for the monetary damage of N5b for the embarrassment your defamatory publication has caused him and his family”
The letter said “In the event of your failure to meet the demands set out above, our client shall be constrained to approach a Court of Competent jurisdiction and take legal action against you for defamation and libel”
But in a response to Obi’s letter to Onanuga, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, Esq, on Tuesday July 23, 2024, described Obi as lier and loquacious and disruptive backseat driver.
He said Obi assigned himself an ignoble role of an embittered loser and spoiler, stressing that economic challenges and hardship are a stark reality of most countries of the world today, both developed and developing.
Morka said its an existential condition that must be tackled adding that the economic condition of the country is an arduous task that requires collective patriotic collaboration.
According to him, Obi has continued, unabashedly, to showcase his obsessive devotion to self promotion against the best interest of Nigeria.
In Press statement titled: “PETER OBI, A LOQUACIOUS AND DISRUPTIVE BACKSEAT DRIVER,” Morka added that Mr. Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Morka described Obi’s position of the nation’s economic condition as a warped conclusion.
He said Obi’s assertion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration was highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.
According to Morka, Obi mischievously said that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country and described it as misleading.
Text of a press statement released on Tuesday by National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka
PETER OBI, A LOQUACIOUS AND DISRUPTIVE BACKSEAT DRIVER
“The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections and former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has continued, unabashedly, to showcase his obsessive devotion to self promotion against the best interest of Nigeria.
“Mr. Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade. He opined, rather mischievously, that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country.
“The facts tell a far more complex and different story. The country’s economic decline began under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with GDP growth plummeting from 7.98% in 2010 to 2.79% in 2015. And since 2015, the global oil price crash, geopolitical tensions, climate change, global COVID pandemic and rising population have all taken a toll on Nigeria’s economy that is almost entirely dependent on drastically reduced oil export earnings.
“The growth recorded during the PDP years was due entirely to high price of crude oil and increased government spending that it supported.
“It is noteworthy that between 2007-2014, Nigeria earned $531.2 billion under the PDP, compared to $287.8 billion under APC between 2015-2022. This drastically reduced export earnings under the APC administration was even further stretched thin by the country’s population surge from 184 million in 2015 to 229 million in 2024.
“Despite the huge revenues available to it, successive PDP administrations neglected to address underlying structural challenges and distortions in the economy leaving the country vulnerable to economic shocks and volatility. Had the PDP undertaken a sustained programme of economic reform as President Tinubu is currently engaged, Nigeria’s economic situation would be far better than it is today.
“But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.
“The administration’s focused and determined efforts to tackle the country’s challenges through diversification, massive infrastructure development, social welfare, agricultural revolution and sustained improvements in national security are certain to accelerate Nigeria’s resurgence, create jobs and lift millions of our people out of poverty.
“Quite contrary to Obi’s jaundiced and gloomy analysis, in the last one year alone, the country has attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside recording an all-time high N6.52 trillion
trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024 marking a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits.
“Despite clearing the backlog of the foreign exchange debts owed foreign airlines and other economic actors by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation’s foreign reserves has continued to expand, hitting upwards of $34 billion, the highest in recent times. Capital inflow into the country increased by 66.27 percent this year alone.
“Notable financial experts and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that for the first time in our economic history, the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 100,000 benchmark this year, making the Nigerian Stock Exchange currently about the most profitable capital market in the world with a return on investment (RoI) as high as 22.90 percent.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the nation’s economy will have a 3.1 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2024, one of the highest projections for any African country.
“Initiatives such as the Credit Corps, Students Loan, the newly approved minimum wage, the construction of 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, and many more are tailor-made by the President Tinubu’s to combat poverty and expand economic opportunities for Nigerians.
“Mr. Obi is a loquacious and disruptive backseat driver who has assigned himself an ignoble role of an embittered loser and spoiler. Economic challenges and hardship are a stark reality of most countries of the world today, both developed and developing. It is an existential condition that must be tackled and transformed. This is an arduous task that requires collective patriotic collaboration.
“Mr. Obi must know that inflaming passion and mobilizing outrage through false and manipulative narratives are not legitimate tools of opposition politics. Expecting President Tinubu to accomplish total transformation of Nigeria in one year, a feat he failed miserably to accomplish in eight years as Governor of Anambra state, is the height of disgraceful hypocrisy.
“President Tinubu remains focused and committed to building lasting blocks of economic prosperity for Nigeria.” The statement reads.
