By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The presidency has challenged Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party to come out and lead the nationwide protest scheduled to commence on 1 August like other opposition leaders have done in the past.
Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the President threw the challenge to Obi after the former Anambra State Governor endorsed the nationwide protest on Sunday.
The Labour Party presidential candidate had told journalists in Abia State that there is nothing wrong if Nigerians want to embark on protest to show their disaffection about some issues in the country.
Obi, who spoke during a visit to Governor Alex Otti said the Nigerian Constitution guarantee the right to protest.
He. however said the protest must be done in a peaceful way.
While warning the security agencies against high-handedness in handling the protesters, Obi appealed to government to listen to Nigerians on the motivation for the protest/
“In the Nigerian Constitution, protest is allowed. All I plea for those who are protesting is to do so within the law and in a civil manner that allows us as a nation to show that we live within the law,” he said.
Reacting to the assertion by Obi, Onanuga who had earlier accused the LP candidate and his supporters of being behind the impending nationwide protest challenged him to copy the eexample of former President Muhammadu Buhari and his successor, Bola Tinubu who led protests as opposition leaders, instead playing ‘the master puppeteer; behind the scene.
Onanuga said in a short post on his X handle: “Now that Peter Obi has come out to endorse the planned protest by his supporters, he should do what President Tinubu and former President Buhari did in the past, by coming out openly to lead the protesters. That is what leadership is about.
“Not playing the master puppeteer behind the scene. He should be in the forefront”.
