The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, to caution his supporters against using threats and language capable of derailing the meaning of democracy.
The ruling party stated this while responding to Peter Obi’s statement over an alleged threat to his life issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka.
Naija News reports that the issue was a fallout of Sunday’s interview on Arise Television, where Morka, claimed that Peter Obi had crossed the line in his recent criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Morka claimed that the former governor of Anambra State was desperately seeking to incite Nigerians into bringing down the current government.
The APC spokesperson said Peter Obi had crossed the line many times, adding, “he has coming to him whatever he gets.”
He said, “Mr. Obi is shooting from the hip. He is not looking. He is not taking an aim. He just shoots widely like what we used to see in movies back in the day in the wild, wild West. He is not being rational. He is absolutely irrational in his thinking and in his public commentary, for a man who was governor for eight years, who left nothing, nothing to remember in Anambra State by way of a legacy or transformation.
“He is sulking rather than actually get a perspective and figure out what he did to lose; so he can do better in the future. He would think that he can bring down the government by simply being maliciously deceptive. That is wrong. You know, I’m not somebody to go on that offensive in that manner. But Mr. Obi has crossed the line so many times. And I think that at this point, whatever he gets, he needs to manage it.”
In his response via X on Monday, Peter Obi maintained that he is committed to upholding decorum and that people are free to point out where he crossed the line in his New Year message.
He said the country is increasingly transforming into an authoritarian and repressive regime, where freedom of expression is being systematically suppressed.
However, the National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, expressed disappointment over how Peter Obi and his supporters reacted to the statement.
While asserting that nothing was threatening or harmful in Morka’s interview, Ibrahim urged Peter Obi to call his supporters to order.
He said, “They are taking politics to a different level. By now, having come this far, we should be playing politics without bitterness. We shouldn’t be playing the kind of politics that will reduce us from human beings to lower animals. There is nothing threatening, insulting or harmful in what my boss, Mr Felix Morka, said in response to Peter Obi’s remark.
“There is nothing, depending on how you look at it. If you look at the content upside down or sideways, either way, you look at it, there is nothing to warrant the kind of social media bombardment and threats sent in the direction of the national publicity secretary. The Obidients have to revisit their conscience and understand the main intention of opposition in politics.
“It’s not supposed to be a show of insult and threats. No, we should be playing politics of maturity. I expect someone like Peter Obi, who was a governor for two terms and who has been on the political scene for a long time, to caution his supporters against using threats and language that are capable of derailing the meaning of democracy.”