The Presidency has accused supporters of the presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, of shielding him from scrutiny and giving him what it described as a licence to lie without consequences.
Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the allegation while reacting to the latest response by the Anambra State Government to statements attributed to Obi.
Onanuga made the comments in a series of posts on X on Saturday where he highlighted four issues from the Anambra government’s response and used them to criticise Obi and his supporters.
According to him, Obi’s supporters have created a double standard around the former Anambra governor by defending him whenever his claims are challenged.
Onanuga cited the Anambra government’s position that Obi had consistently criticised both his predecessors and successors in office while portraying himself as the only major political figure capable of advancing the state.
The statement referenced by Onanuga also accused Obi of using a media team, including Val Obienyem and others, to sustain criticism of successive administrations in Anambra.
Onanuga further alleged that Obi’s supporters tolerate what they consider falsehoods from him because of their loyalty to him, arguing that such behaviour undermines accountability in public life.
He said supporters who genuinely care about Obi should encourage him to avoid making claims that can be disproved by available facts, rather than defending him whenever he faces criticism.
The presidential aide also accused Obi’s supporters of applying different standards to the former governor and other political actors.
He pointed to the criticism directed at Anambra State Governor, Soludo, over his decision to support a political candidate other than Obi, while arguing that Obi himself is allowed to choose whom he supports even when he is not contesting an election.
Onanuga also questioned Obi’s approach to governance, particularly his emphasis on government savings and interest income.
He argued that governance should be measured by its impact on citizens, including security, welfare and living conditions, rather than primarily by the amount of money saved by government.
He wrote, ‘Deconstructing Peter Obi (1)
‘I underscored four quotable quotes from the Anambra government’s latest response to the lies of Peter Obi that should serve as a warning to Nigerians about his candidacy.
‘Quote No. 1 is on the blind loyalty to him by his charmed followers online, who have been brainwashed by his media propagandists:
‘There is this dangerous trend in our public discourse whereby there are two sets of standards: one for everyone else and another for H.E. Peter Obi. This is one former governor of Anambra who is not on record to have ever complimented any of his predecessors or successors. He spent eight years in office demarketing Dr Mbadinuju and Dr Ngige and has spent the last 13 years, with his paid media team, Val Obienyem, and dozens of others, daily demarketing his successors. He is the only next big thing after God. And indeed, to his credit, the media packaging has worked.’
‘Deconstructing Peter Obi (2): He is licensed to lie as he likes. His supporters love his lies
‘No one blames Obi for being a pathological liar. What one hears is, ‘Yes, we know that he is lying, but must you be the one to expose the lies of a brother-even if his lies are hurting you?’ Hypocrisy and multiple standards everywhere. These do not advance the cause of public accountability. And consistency in our quest for strong ethical politics and governance.
‘Those who love H.E. Peter Obi should advise him to stop lying as a habit so as to avoid the constant embarrassment of confronting inconvenient facts and truth. It is also our advice to him as a brother.’
‘Deconstructing Obi (3) Woe betide the person who exposes Obi as a liar or fails to succumb to his hypocritical standard:
‘Only Peter Obi has the right to lie about and against anyone and everyone, and if you dare to expose his lies, you must be the ‘sinner’, the ‘saboteur’.
‘The double standard is everywhere around Peter Obi.
For Obi’s supporters, ‘H.E. Peter Obi has the right to choose who to support and campaign for, even when he is not on the ballot. For our governor(Governor Soludo) to dare to exercise the same right and support anyone else but Peter Obi, he must be crucified.’
‘Deconstructing Obi (4): Obi’s governance philosophy is structured by his trading experience. My verdict: He is unfit to govern Nigeria.
‘Your Excellency Peter Obi, governance and development are different from trading where everything is primarily about profit and loss account without much consideration for human life. Your response to the thousands of workers and pensioners you owed and your reducing development to the size of bank accounts and interest income while millions die in poverty don’t show good signs. Indeed, if government savings and interest income constitute an indicator of governance performance, perhaps it should have been one of the MDGs or SDGs and governments would start competing as to who saves the most rather than who improves the security and welfare of the people the most. The gloating over savings and interest income…is certainly an unfortunate economic argument.’