On Wednesday, Nigerians criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission for endorsing a tweet that attacked Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
On Tuesday, the official INEC Twitter account that has been verified liked a message that was critical of Obi. Obi is one of the leading candidates in Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election, which was days away.
Seun Kuti, the son of renowned Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, claimed in a post published by a news organisation (not ANAEDOONLINE.NG) that the LP candidate was “an opportunist that can’t deliver Nigeria.”
ANAEDOONLINE.NG checked INEC’s account and discovered that the electoral body liked the post, which had been placed more than 22 hours prior to the submission of this story.
Seun has been very open about his stance on Obi’s presidential ambition and in an interview with the online platform Mic On Podcast hosted by Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloye, Mr Kuti noted that only the people of Nigeria could save the country.
Describing Obi as a capitalist he said, “He hasn’t had the time because he started too late. You can’t be telling me that just because you lost PDP primaries 18 months before the election, you suddenly started a movement, and you have a plan for the country.
“No, that’s opportunism. And it’s not an opportunist that will deliver Nigeria—not jumping on Labour Party. The Labour Party has a socialist structure. Peter Obi is a capitalist. Where are they going?”
Efforts by ANAEDOONLINE.NG, to get the reaction of the electoral body were futile as at the time of filing this report.
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Calls and text messages sent to INEC’s Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, were yet to be returned or responded to.
But reacting to the post, a Twitter user, @FS_Yusuf_ wrote, “Dear @inecnigeria why is your handler liking this tweet where Peter Obi is attacked! What is this nonsense! Are we a joke to the commission!?
“Don’t set this nation aflame. @inecnigeria this is a warning! We need to sue INEC for this misbehavior!”
@BishopPOEvang said, “If we talk them go say we dey lie. See what INEC is liking. A whole so called independent body that conducts elections. @inecnigeria you can’t make us lose this election. We won’t allow you.”
@Urchilla01 said, “Fellow Nigerians, wouldn’t it be nice to demand an explanation from @inecnigeria for why they liked a post that is biased against H.E. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the LP for an election where @inecnigeria is supposed to be an unbiased umpire?”
@Dr_chazduke wrote, “@INECNigeria’s Twitter account handle liked a story criticizing the Presidential candidate of LP Mr Peter Obi. Who is in charge of INEC’s social media accounts, is INEC IT compromised 🤔”
@VictorIsrael_ tweeted, “Nigerians please can we make this post go viral? We need to ask Questions why @inecnigeria would like a tweet that is targeted at demarketing Peter Obi? We thought INEC should be neutral? Why are they taking a side? Please help me RETWEET this. We need answers.”
@JaypeeGeneral wrote, “@inecnigeria @ineclagos is not hiding their partisanship. From planning to use Tinubu’s MC Oluomo for Lagos logistics to liking a tweet that calls Peter Obi an opportunist. Also, remember how Lagos REC called the Igbos migrants. Obidients, this election is between us and INEC.
@Morris_Monye wrote, “Just look at @inecnigeria liking a post on Twitter where Peter Obi was called an opportunist. Just look at INEC handlers.
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