APC needs Peter Obi ‘alive and well’ – Tinubu’s aide

The All Progressives Congress (APC) needs the standard-bearer of the Labour Party (LP) during the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, ‘alive and well’, according to a presidency aide, Dada Olusegun.

Olusegun, who is the Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, spoke on behalf of the APC in a post he shared on his official X account on Thursday.

He said this amid the ongoing war of words between Obi and the publicity secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, who was accused by the former of issuing threats against him.

“I have watched the video in question over and over. At no point did Mr. Morka threaten Mr. Obi,” Dada said. “The victimhood mentality is needless. Our great party needs Mr. Obi alive and well more than he can ever realise.”

The controversy started when Obi, at his press conference last Thursday, the first day of the new year, expressed worries about the situation in Nigeria under Tinubu’s leadership.

Obi criticised the worsening political, economic, security, and healthcare conditions, describing the government’s claims of progress as inconsistent with the realities on the ground.

“Our national challenges are visibly worsening. Our nation and its fortunes are in clear reverse. The indices are clearly indicative of our decline; thus, our national indices tell a disconcerting story,” Obi said.

Then Morka, in an interview, said, “Peter Obi has crossed the line so many times and has it coming to him, whatever he gets.”

The APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, has thrown his weight behind the party’s spokesman, Morka, on the faceoff between him and Obi.

Ganduje, in a statement, insisted that there is no iota of truth in the claims by Obi that his life is being threatened over his scathing attack on the President Tinubu-led administration.

He described the claims as sheer mischief and outright falsehood, which would have been ignored if not for the need to refute such a baseless narrative.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, however, slammed the APC over remarks made by Morka about the Labour Party presidential candidate.

Atiku, in a post shared on X, described Morka’s statement as inflammatory and reflective of a ‘disturbing emblem of the current administration’s unsettling strategy in addressing opposition figures.’

“This threat against Obi, coupled with the prolonged detention of Mahdi Shehu, a prominent voice of dissent and others, signals a worrisome shift towards an authoritarian governance model, where the rights of opposition voices are being suffocated,” Atiku wrote.

Atiku said Morka’s choice of words, particularly the ominous suggestion that Obi has “crossed the line,” reveals an alarming disdain for democratic principles.

He added that such language, rooted in hostility, has no place in a free society where civil discourse and engagement should reign supreme.