Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last election, Mr. Peter Obi, has refused to condemn the message of one of his chief supporters, Charles Oputa, better known as ‘Charly Boy’, urging Nigerian youths to stage civil unrest over the outcome of the 2023 election.
Charly Boy, a 73-year-old entertainer, made the call last week via a widely criticised tweet. Citing events in France where violent protests over the Police killing of an immigrant teenager have resulted in large-scale destruction and national instability, Charly Boy encouraged ‘exceptional youths’ in Nigeria to do the same in protest of Obi’s failure to win the presidential contest.
Eminent Nigerians, including political groups and non-partisan organizations, frowned at the call which they described as both reckless and inciting. Some even demanded the arrest and questioning of Charly Boy by the security agencies over an alleged plot to violate the peace and stability of the country.
However, despite the near national rebuke of Charly Boy, the defeated candidate on whose behalf he made the call urging youths to violence has maintained a curious silence. Peter Obi, who since the election has made a routine out of opportunistic statements designed to extract political benefits out of headline events, has turned a blind eye to Charly Boy’s dangerous incitement.
His silence has led many to speculate that he may secretly support Charly Boy’s message or possibly directed its publication. Those making the speculations reasoned that Obi, whose legal team fell short of proving his rigging claims in court, may have realized the futility of his legal case over lack of substantial evidence and is now resorting to dark tactics to reclaim a mandate he maintains he lost.
Obi has struggled to maintain the attention levels he got during the election as most Nigerians now have their gaze fixed on the president who is widely reckoned to have put in a good start.