Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson for Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, has doubled down on his ethnic slur against Igbos in Lagos, insisting the Igbos are “existential threats” to Yorubas.

Criticised for his controversial and divisive ethnocentric statement, Mr Onanuga in another tweet said “let me make myself abundantly clear: the views I express on Twitter are my personal views.

“I don’t owe anyone any apology for addressing the existential threats of our people. I am after all, first of all a Yoruba, before being a Nigerian,” he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Peoples Gazette reported how Mr Onanuga in a tweet pushed outright exclusion of Nigerians of Igbo extraction from Lagos political power, marking an escalation of ethnic controversies that enveloped the governorship election of March 18.

“Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics,” Mr Onanuga said, tweeting a photo of Peter Obi, an Igbo from Anambra State who backed Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a Yoruba from Lagos, in the Saturday’s election. “Let there be no repeat in 2027.”

Mr Onanuga’s position on the recent political developments in Lagos runs contrary to Mr Tinubu who has sued for national coherence following his victory last month.

Festus Keyamo, another spokesperson for APC PCC, in a tweet on Sunday after Mr Onanuga’s controversial statement went viral said: “I TOTALLY deplore tribal politics. I am a product of different regions of Nigeria. I’ve NEVER in my life written or promoted one tribe over another, even in campaigns. No one should ever rile a whole tribe & this applies to all sides – North/South/East/West in Nigeria’s politics.”

For decades, Lagos, a state in Yoruba-dominated southwestern Nigeria, has played host to citizens from other parts of the country who also play active roles in its business and politics.

However, Nigerian most cosmopolitan city has been rocked by divisive ethnic tension this election season as politicians pull ethnic strings to gain an advantage.

Mr Onanuga’s statement targeted at the Igbos, which has been widely condemned by Twitter users, comes as President-elect Tinubu prepares to take over leadership of a highly polarised country.

In the February 25 presidential election, Mr Obi’s Labour Party defeated Mr Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress presidential campaign, in Lagos, where Mr Tinubu was once a governor from 1999 to 2007 and held the de facto position as the godfather of all governors since then.

Though Mr Tinubu emerged winner of the presidential election after all results from all 36 states were collated and announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Obi’s victory in Lagos came as a shocker to many. The declaration of Mr Tinubu as president-elect is now being challenged at the election petition tribunal.

Saturday’s governorship election in Lagos saw APC thugs roaming the streets warning citizens who will not vote for their party to stay at home.

This followed an earlier threat by notorious Lagos thug, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya, threatening Igbos who will not vote for the APC in the governorship election to stay at home.

Mr Adenuga’s comments came as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu appeared set to win re-election in Lagos, a victory many already condemned as coming via maximum ethnic violence unleashed on Igbo residents across the nation’s commercial capital on election day.

The military gave us the constitution that we are killing to defend today, so why demonizing the military?

The military handed over to politicians who asked for democracy. Yet these 'quasi-democrats' cannot manage a simple election that other democratic countries organise without rancour and rigging. They claim to be democrats but threaten other Nigerians from freely voting their choice. They kill, they maim, they mutilate results and steal people's votes.

Nigeria's election swallows 300 billion Naira every four years, voting is done on a flimsy paper and fake results are manually mutilated and written in the bedroom of politicians after collation at the polling stations. Are the voters who stand in the rain and sunshine that worthless?

Political thugs are everywhere threatening and killing people who want to vote their choice. How is that different from the Liberian war where people's hands were cut off to prevent them from voting?

The Solution
In the event that judiciary becomes too cowardly to call a spade a spade and end rubber-stampping this open electoral heist that has negated every norms of democratic process, the military must must not hesitate to save the country from being thrown into anarchy by politicians who do not believe in the rights of others in a free democracy.

How will they do this? An interim government should take charge and fix the electoral system to ensure that minimal or zero human interference is allowed in our electoral system.

A 100% electronic voting system is what is needed now. Voters get accredited with their voter's card ONLY ONCE, and then vote in a paperless electronic manner, the votes are recorded and sent directly to the server and seen on the INEC IREV in REAL-TIME.
It has to be transparent, so that losers and winners will agree with the results.

Rigging of elections usually happens between when ballots are counted and when the votes are collated by INEC. That is usually when the results are mutilated or destroyed and the fake ones recorded..That should be stemmed in the tide by e-polling and e-collation and e-transmission of votes. A lot of money will be saved from printing worthless ballot papers that can be snatched anytime by political thugs trying to subvert the process.

Politicians who have vested interests cannot give us a perfect electoral system. When the debate for BVAS and IreV was brought up on the floor of the Senate last year, many sitting politicians afraid of loss of popularity back home, opposed the inclusion of clause 'INEC shall transmit electronically', this has given INEC and politicians the wherewithal to claim 'there is no network, we will transmit the votes when we get to the office', allowing the sustenance of an electoral system that is fraught with heavy irregularities.

Videos abound of INEC presiding officials who have been bribed by politicians telling the voters 'we will not upload until we get to the office', of course we know that once they get to their office (or the sitting rooms of politicians), the results are mutilated or changed outrightly. That's an insult to the Nigerian voters.

No politician will allow such reform to happen, not even Tinubu will let that happen. Only a dispassionate interim military government can institute an electoral reform that will be fair to all and hand it over to Nigerians.
We need to consider this a surgical procedure that will strengthen true democracy in the aftermath.

Mr Onanuga in another tweet said “let me make myself abundantly clear: the views I express on Twitter are my personal views.

Ofemmanu1:
Aye yeeboe ti baje..


We no go give them chance again.

Make Dem go die for potopoto.


I just finished one yeeboe kpekus now.

I go control another one later.

OsunOriginal:
Those who think Onanugu should apologize must have their heads examined. He spoke on behalf of the Yorubas (anywhere they might be). Igbos should blame themselves for whatever happens to them if they continue to poke their irritating noses into the politics of Lagos. Yorubas like Gbadebo who want to take advantage of the clannishness of igbos should be rendered personal non-grata in our political space.

Ireportlive:
Tell them to their face... I won't have to wake up in future explaining to my grandchildren how our land and heritage turned no man's land because some idiots won't stay where God created them

FuglyGurl:


https://gazettengr.com/i-owe-no-one-apology-for-ethnic-slur-against-igbos-they-are-threats-to-yorubas-bayo-onanuga/

Ofemmanu1:
Aye yeeboe ti baje..


We no go give them chance again.

Make Dem go die for potopoto.


I just finished one yeeboe kpekus now.

I go control another one later.

OsunOriginal:
Those who think Onanugu should apologize must have their heads examined. He spoke on behalf of the Yorubas (anywhere they might be). Igbos should blameoi themselves for whatever happens to them if they continue to poke their irritating noses into politics of Lagos. Yorubas like Gbadebo who want to take advantage of the clannishness of igbos should be rendered personal non-grata in our political space.

Philgafauto:


He didn’t speak on my behalf ooo.

I condemn the hate speech of Mr. Bayo Onanuga.

Bobloco:
These are the kind of people that will be the face of a Tinubu government

Ethnic bigots

Madmohamed123:
wee will bring tinubu presidency down if he there to intimidate igbo what wee will do to his government will be child play to compare to buhari he should ask buhari how far he will tell you that he see shaga from igbo

Wee will use social media to atack let Tinubu do nonsense if he will be the president i don't think so.

Freshtruth:
May God help Igbo's this next 4years

Goke7:


Obi is one too, he said Igbos lost more than Yorubas during June 12 crisis,

Karemarealty288:


Still tell your children how lazy you were not to work hard but depended on selling your heritage cos of the passion to spray Pasuma.