Peter Obi Punches Bisi Akande Over #EndSARS Allegations
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has castigated former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, for deliberately attempting to rewrite history with his skewed narratives over the #EndSARS protest which he described as a genuine call for justice and good governance.
While condemning the assertion by Akande as insensitive to the memory of those who lost their lives during the protests, Obi particularly dismissed Akande’s claims as totally misleading and divisive.
Chief Akande had in a podcast interview, alleged that the #EndSARS protest was orchestrated by the Obidient Movement to hinder Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition, saying that the Obidients used foreign funds to sponsor the protest as a political strategy to weaken Tinubu’s influence before the 2023 elections.
According to Akande; “The Obidients were behind #EndSARS. It was manufactured in America and brought in just to stop him (Tinubu). I said the Obidients, I didn’t say Obi. They came from America to do the #EndSARS and later became a movement to form a party. They couldn’t form a party. It was well planned and organised with a lot of money from America.”
In his reaction, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Tanko Yunusa, frowned at Akande’s remarks, stressing that they were insulting to the memory of the victims of #EndSARS, especially those who lost their lives.
Yunusa said the entire Obidient movement rejected the unguarded vituperations of Akande, saying that the statements were outrightly baseless and revisionist.
In the words of Yunusa; “Former governor Bisi Akande’s false narrative is not only an insult to the memory of the young Nigerians who lost their lives in the fight against police brutality, but also a desperate attempt to rewrite history and shift blame for the government’s failures.
“#EndSARS was a decentralized, youth-led protest against police brutality, not a politically motivated campaign against any politician.
“Rather than engaging in revisionist propaganda, we urge Akande and his associates to focus on addressing the real issues facing Nigerians today which are economic hardship, insecurity, unemployment, and bad governance.
“The people are suffering, and no amount of misinformation or historical distortion will change that reality,” Yunusa stressed.
Speaking in the same vein, Mr Umar Ibrahim, media aide to Mr Peter Obi, said that Akande’s claims on the #EndSARS protest were not only misleading but also divisive, adding that it was most unfortunate for Akande to ever suggest that the Obidient Movement was behind the #EndSARS protests.
According to Ibrahim; “It is even more astonishing that Akande would imply #EndSARS was orchestrated to prevent a particular individual from becoming President.
“The Obidient Movement emerged organically as a grassroots movement driven by Nigerians passionate about good governance. The #EndSARS was a separate, spontaneous reaction to police brutality and systemic injustice.
“To conflate these two distinct phenomena is not only inaccurate but also unfair to the millions of Nigerians who are genuinely committed to creating positive change,” he said. Ibrahim therefore urged Chief Bisi Akande to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims that can only serve to further polarize our society.
