A former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, has advised the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to call his supporters to order, saying the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not lifted the ban on campaigns.
Onochie alleged that two years after Obi’s loss at the 2023 polls, his followers are still campaigning, advising the former Anambra to take “his goons to go home, take a rest, and prepare for another whooping in 2027.”
Onochie made this statement in a Wednesday post on X after Obi lamented that he had been receiving several threats since delivering a New Year message at a press conference. In Abuja. In the address, titled “Nigeria Needs Selfless and Exemplary Leadership,” Obi had criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its inability to tackle the country’s mounting economic and security crises and called for “vigorous, positive actions” to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, noting that many citizens were losing hope.
Responding, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in an interview on Arise Television accused Obi of hypocrisy and incitement, describing his remarks as “misleading” and “aimed at scoring cheap political points,” before ending his argument with a subtle threat of “he has coming to him whatever he gets.”
Obi has since alleged that the Morka threatened him on live television. He also claimed he received a series of threatening messages following Morka’s remarks.
Dismissing Obi’s claim, Onochie said the Labour Party stalwart was “too unserious and consequently inconsequential in the scheme of things in Nigeria today.”
She reiterated her advice to him and “his goons to go home, take a rest, and prepare for another whooping in 2027.”
She stated that nearly two years after suffering a “brain-damaging defeat,” they are still campaigning. “They are not aware that INEC has not lifted the ban on politics for 2027.”
The former presidential aide pointed out that Obi’s supporters, popularly known as Obidients, “are the ones going around showcasing their poor upbringing, with name-calling, ethnic/religious bigotry, and slut-shaming women, especially on social media. Enough of their shenanigans.”