The Presidency on Saturday identified the supporters of the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as the orchestrators of planned nationwide protests against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The Presidency called on security agencies to promptly act against the organizers of these protests by interrogating the “agents of destabilization” behind the alleged “Tinubu Must Go” demonstrations.
A group under the #EndBadGoverning has been mobilizing Nigerians on social media for protests scheduled from August 1st to 15th.
The group claims their plan is to use the protest to draw attention to the plights of Nigerians.
However, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a detailed post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, challenged the group’s claims.
Onanuga raised concerns that the same individuals who hijacked the 2020 ENDSARS protests are behind the planned demonstrations, spreading hashtags like ‘EndBadGovernance’ and ‘Tinubu Must Go.’
The presidential spokesman described the group as “anarchists” and “bad losers” unwilling to wait for the next election cycle in 2027, but desiring to destabilize Nigeria through a “civilian coup.”
He stated that Obi should be held responsible if the protests turn into anarchy.
The Presidency identified several key figures, including a faceless internet radio station owner and a Labour Party chief, as being involved in the planned protests.
Onanuga warned that the protesters’ calls for “revolution” and “ending an elected government” amount to high treason, urging security agencies to take action against those threatening the country’s stability.
Onanuga’s post titled “REVEALED: Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy,” recalled how a similar call for protest in 2020 was hijacked by criminal elements, leaving Lagos State reeling from massive destruction and looting of public and private property.
The post added, “Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. He should be held responsible for any crisis resulting from the action.
“The protest planners are the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020. ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness.
“IPOB members planning to separate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their agenda. Lagos still bears the scars of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements.
“Two years after ENDSARS, IPOB members and gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathizer of their cause.
“They are spreading hashtags like ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’. They are not democrats but anarchists, attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in 2023.
“As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilize Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realize they are calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Calling for a revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason.
“I have been tracking one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja. This anonymous person joined X in August 2022 and has 520 followers today, including FS Yusuf, another rabid Obi supporter, and Professor Pat Utomi, a Labour Party chief, and a guy on X who goes by the pseudonym Peter Obi’s First Son. PTM’s profile image features a sign reading ‘Certificate Forger Not My President’ with a photo of Peter Obi as an inset. Only Obi’s supporters will be talking about certificate forgery long after the Supreme Court dismissed the allegation.
“In the past 24 hours, this faceless X user has been whipping up the gullible to join the planned protest and posting about Peter Obi’s activities. He often retweets Peter Obi.
In one post, a video shows a teenager, said to be in the North, printing T-shirts emblazoned with “EndBadGovernance in Nigeria 2024′.
“There is also a retweeted post by Babatunde Gbadamosi, a failed and frustrated politician in Lagos. In it, he refers to his earlier post urging people ‘to identify APC members, sponsors, supporters, enablers, thugs, promoters, and appointees.’ The police and DSS ought to have arrested the man for making a brazen threat to political opponents,” Onanuga said.
The presidential spokesman emphasized that every country faces economic challenges, but civilized nations address leadership concerns through elections, not violent protests.
He highlighted the government’s efforts to address the cost of living crisis, including over 100% increase in minimum wage, student loans, and palliatives such as food distribution.
He also noted improvements in the economy, including reduced inflation, increased revenue generation, and a booming stock market.
The Presidency urged citizens to consider these efforts before joining protests and warned that those calling for demonstrations should wait until the 2027 elections to effect leadership change.
“Security agents should, by now, begin to interrogate these agents of destabilization. No country is immune from economic turbulence at the moment. Civilized and democratic people wait for another election to make leadership changes. They don’t trigger mayhem in their countries by staging protests, the end of which nobody can predict.
“Nigerian citizens must consider the government’s efforts to address the cost of living crisis when deciding whether to join the protests by Labour Party and IPOB supporters.
“The Tinubu government has not been found wanting in this regard. The minimum wage has been increased by more than 100 percent. Loans are being disbursed to students in tertiary schools.
“A credit corporation has been launched to promote consumption credit. Palliatives, including the latest distribution of 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states and Abuja, are being rolled out. Businesses, such as pharmaceuticals, are being assisted. The Federal and state governments are investing heavily in agriculture to produce more food.
“The economy is improving, inflation is slowing, the national debt has been reduced in dollar terms, and the FIRS has increased revenue generation to record levels. Investors are returning to our country. Our stock market is the best in the world, with a 33 percent return on investment.
“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,” Onanuga said.
