Presidential spokesman denies Tinubu’s involvement in ADC crisis, accuses former LP candidate of party abandonment
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has dismissed suggestions that President Bola Tinubu has any hand in the crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi is reportedly joining.
In a strongly-worded statement posted on X Tuesday night, Onanuga accused Obi of abandoning the Labour Party after using it to contest the 2023 presidential election and failing to demonstrate leadership in resolving the party’s internal crises.
“I wonder why all these incompetent politicians are turning President Bola Tinubu into their favourite whipping boy. The President has nothing to do with Obi’s abandonment of the Labour Party or the jam he appears to have run into in the ADC,” Onanuga stated.
The presidential aide criticized Obi’s political trajectory, noting that after leaving the Labour Party, the former Anambra State governor moved to his “IPOB base, the so-called Obidient movement, which is more active online” but failed to transform it into a formal political structure.
“You would think the man would transform the movement into a political party. But no, he didn’t do any such thing. He is just incapable of building an organic party of his own,” Onanuga said.
Read Also: Another Failed Promise! — Obi Slams Tinubu After Fresh Plateau Killings
Describing Obi as a “peripatetic politician,” the presidential spokesman alleged that the ADC was “hijacked” and bought by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from Ralph Nwosu, claiming that “no due diligence appeared to have been conducted by the new owners, and thus, the nightmare they are confronting today.”
Onanuga insisted that Tinubu has no connection to the ADC crisis, adding: “Whatever problem they have is self-inflicted. Obi and his co-travellers need to get their acts together, clear the mess in their new party and then compete for the presidential ticket.”
The presidential aide urged Obi to “settle with Nafiu Gombe and other disenchanted ADC members,” stressing that the former LP candidate remains “inconsequential for 2027” until he secures a party’s presidential ticket.
Warning against over-reliance on past electoral performance, Onanuga stated: “The fact that he came third in 2023 does not mean he will have the same showing in 2027, if he ever becomes a candidate of any party. 2023 is not like 2027.”
He defended the president’s democratic credentials, saying President Tinubu “is an incumbent with many achievements to flaunt, most of which Obi has been blind to acknowledge.”
Onanuga concluded by describing criticisms from Obi’s camp as “sheer baloney, a very unfair attempt to besmirch his democratic credentials.”
The statement comes amid reports that Obi is positioning himself to join the ADC ahead of the 2027 presidential election, following his departure from the Labour Party under which he ran in 2023.