Renowned political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, has vowed to sue the special adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga for falsely linking him with the planned national protest over hardship in the country.
Onanuga had in his post on X Platform formerly (Twitter) on Saturday baselessly accused Utomi and the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, his supporters and Obidients of been behind the planned national protest.
He wrote, “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 were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020.
“ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness.
“IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their own agenda.
“Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today. Two years after ENDSARS, the IPOB and the gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathiser of their cause. They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’.”
“They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election.
“As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason.
“Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason. I have been on the trail of one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja.”
But reacting in a statement on Monday, Prof Utomi advised Onanuga to withdraw his statement or provide evidence of his claims.
He warned that he would sue Onanuga and claim N500bn if he fails to provide sophisticated evidence.
“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 forth coming.
“I will also have no choice but to institute a claim of N500 Billon for of 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,” Utomi stated.
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