By Ademola Tijani
Renowned political economist, Pat Utomi has threatened to sue the Special Adviser, Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, for “falsely” accusing him and others of plotting to stage nationwide protests against hunger, naira devaluation and economic hardship in the country.
Mr Onanuga had, in a post on his verified X account, accused Utomi, Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023, general election, and Obi’s supporters, under the aegis of the Obidience Movement, of planning to stage the said nationwide protests.
“Obi should be held responsible for anarchy. Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action. The protest planners are also the same people who IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu instigated to launch the destructive #EndSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020,” Mr Onanuga posted on his X last week.
Utomi, in his reaction to the allegation against himself, Peter Obi and his supporters, advised Onanuga to withdraw his statement or provide evidence of his claims, warning that he would sue Onanuga and claim ₦500bn if the presidential adviser failed to provide substantial proof of his allegation.
The full statement is as follows: “My attention has been drawn to a statement by Mr. Bayo Onauga, a spokesman for the Presidency, alleging that I have been a key player in demonstrations viewed as insurrection. Let me state first and foremost that I have no problem with protests. They are legitimate sources of feedback in a democracy. I have participated in several during military rule, alongside some of those now in government. My reaction to Onanuga’s statement has nothing to do with the legitimacy of the demonstrations but with the deliberate and outright falsehood of the statement.
“First, I have been living in the United States for several months now and was unaware of threats of demonstrations, so I could not have been part of something I did not know was in the works. As a student of the state in post-colonial Africa,. I am horrified that agents of the State can fabricate deliberate falsehood.”
Expressing his displeasure, Utomi further wrote: “As I know phones are bugged there should at least be evidence of some contact between me and these ostensible demonstration planners. They do not even need to produce the conversation to show evidence but just a thread of contacts. If no evidence of Mr. Onanuga’s false assertion is shown, I will assume it reasonable that the object is to water the ground for false treasonable felony charges that can result in the claim of one’s life. I intend to therefore proceed to the international criminal and other human rights courts if a reasonable explanation is not forthcoming. I will also have no choice but to institute a claim of ₦500 billion for fake news, hate speech, and intent to procure State murder of an innocent citizen.
“ If judicial capture makes justice problematic in Nigeria, I expect that I can trust extra-national institutions and global human solidarity. As one who survived two assassination attempts under Abacha, of which there are public court records, when some of those now in power were my colleague freedom advocates, I am clear they know the consequences of their plotting. I have already indicated in a reaction on X that I meant to ignore the false assertion, but I have been advised of a more sinister motive of State terror that should not be allowed to go unchallenged in the plan being instigated by Mr Onanuga.”
