Keyamo accuses Peter Obi of planning a fake assassination attempt which he will them blame on the APC

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) campaign spokesperson Festus Keyamo has accused the Labour Party's presidential candidate Peter Obi of planning to stage-manage a fake assassination attempt on himself in a bid to court public sympathy.

In May, former Anambra State governor Peter Obi was unanimously selected as the Labour Party's presidential candidate after the only other aspirant Professor Pat Utomi stood down for him. Governor Obi had left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Labour Party after it emerged that he would not get the presidential ticket in what had become a dollarised auction.

With the party primaries now over, it is looking like the main frontrunners in next year's presidential elections will be Governor Obi of the Labour Party, Asiwaju Tinubu of the APC and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Asiwaju Tinubu is a former Lagos State governor, while Alhaji Abubakar served as Nigeria's vice president between 1999 and 2007.

Mr Keyamo, Nigeria's minister of state for labour and employment and the official spokesperson for the APC Campaign Council, has alleged that Governor Obi planned to fake his own assassination with hired supporters dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts. He added that they would attack some of his party secretariats and blame it on the APC.

"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 and is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.

“As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence, his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate," Mr Keyamo added.

He also attacked a recent video published by the Obi camp, saying it was full of hatred and ethnic divisionism. Mr Keyamo called on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn this tactless tactics by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan.

In response to Mr Keyamo’s claims, Governor Obi’s media aide, Emeka Obasi, described the allegations as fallacious, saying he was surprised it was coming from a personality like Keyamo. He added: “It is a fallacy. You media people should also know when you see something fallacious.

"Does Peter look like someone who pretends or fakes things? What do we gain to start faking assassination attempt? Are they in any way trying to carry out such an attempt and seeking to blame Obi for it? The public deserves to know and that’s why we should put it up in the press."