Tony Okafor, Awka
The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has alleged there is a plot to assassinate the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi.
The coalition made the allegation on Thursday in a statement by its
President-General, Goodluck Ibem, in reaction to a comment by the Director of Media and Public Affairs and Official Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo.
COSEYL has asked security agencies to arrest Keyamo over his assassination comment about Peter Obi.
Recall that Keyamo had in a statement recently alleged that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, was planning to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire some supporters dressed in APC caps and T-shirts to attack some of his party offices.
He also accused the former Anambra governor (Obi) of circulating a hate-filled video online to disparage the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Keyamo’s statement partly read, “Our attention has been drawn to an offensive, hate-filled video made and circulated by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, in which he accused an amorphous and non-existent ‘Tinubu’s Group’ of spreading a WhatsApp message calling on the Yoruba people not to vote for him.
“The purported message, according to Mr. Obi, forewarned the Yoruba that a vote for Obi would be a vote for a seaport in South-South and South-East.
“We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr. Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the “US Plan”. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.”
COSEYL, in a response on Thursday, said Keyamo’s assertion was an indication that the APC was planning something sinister against Obi by Keyamo’s “unsolicited prophecy” because of how Obi had been accepted by Nigerians.
The coalition regretted that such a statement could come from a supposed lawyer, who should know better about the consequences of his averment in public.
The group said, “We urge the Inspector General of Police, the Department of State Security (DSS) and other security agencies to immediately arrest Keyamo for being part of the plan to assassinate Mr. Peter Obi, who has done nothing wrong other than to present himself to vie for the office of the Nigerian President come 2022.
“In a democratic setting, everyone has the right to contest for any political office that he or she is qualified to vie for but the plot of assassinating any candidate is not part of our democratic ethos.
“APC is planning evil against Obi and they must be investigated immediately and thoroughly to stop our nation from sliding into anarchy.”