The verbal war between the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, and National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Felix Morka, and by extension the ruling party, did not only assume a worrisome dimension, but also dominated political discourse all through last week.
What started as a harmless reaction to Obi’s usual criticisms of the Federal Government’s economic policies, surprisingly degenerated, resulting in allegations and counter-allegations of threats to lives on both sides of the divide.
The cantankerous situation, Daily Sun gathered, led to an open display of anger from chieftains of both the ruling and opposition political parties, fiercely drawing the battle line with a sharpened political sword, ready to slit each other’s throat, politically speaking, with many Nigerians on the social media space joining the fray to either mock or defend the gladiators they aligned with.
Political heavyweights, including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the ever-hyperactive, cult-like following, restless band of an online mob, popularly called Obidient Movement, among many other notable political watchers, joined the fray, thereby heightening the situation.
It was such a big trending political issue that almost eclipsed every other news item, including the titanic influential delegation of the country’s former and serving elected political office holders that graced the swearing-in of the new President of Ghana, Nana AKufo-Addo.
Expectedly, money-induced, faceless groups and some local and international Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) equally aligned on either side of the warring groups to criticise and or support their camps to scale up the fight to such a disturbing scale.
The gladiators at the centre of it all, Morka, the APC spokesperson, and Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State, actually murdered sleep with each claiming to have received countless numbers of death threats to their lives.
The genesis of the hullabaloo was the misconstruing of Morka’s utterance against his traducer, Obi, during the former’s now infamous appearance on a national television programme which he allegedly threatened the latter’s life, that of his family and those around him.
Morka had said “rather than get a perspective of what he did to lose so he can get better in future, Obi thinks that he can bring down the government by being maliciously deceptive. That is wrong.
“I am not someone to go on the offensive in that manner. But Mr. Obi has crossed the line so many times. And, I think that, at this point, whatever he gets he should manage it,” Morka noted while reacting to the question on Obi’s criticisms of the federal government’s economic policy.
In response, Obi took the fight to his verified official X handle, claiming, in his own words, that: “my New Year Message has now led to threats to my life, my family, and those around me. While I have received all sorts of messages, one Mr. Felix Morka has gone further to accuse me of ‘crossing the line’ and has warned that I will face consequences.”
Escalating the alarm further, the Obidient Movement, in condemnation of the alleged Morka’s threat to Obi, in a statement signed by Yunusa Tanko, urged their members to hold Morka responsible should anything happen to Peter Obi.
“Mr. Felix Morka’s statement confirms what Mr. Peter Obi has repeatedly pointed out—that his life, his business, and all he represents are under coordinated attacks aimed at silencing his voice and that of his supporters at large.
“This administration has chosen repression over dialogue, intimidation over engagement, and threats over democratic discourse. We categorically state that if any harm befalls Mr. Peter Obi, his family, or anyone associated with him, the Nigerian government and its agents will be held directly responsible.
“Nigerians and the international community must take note of this emerging pattern of repression and act to hold those in power accountable. The Obidient Movement will not be cowed into silence. We stand firmly with Mr. Peter Obi and his vision for a just, equitable, and prosperous Nigeria.
“We call on Nigerians to resist this slide into authoritarianism by continuing to demand accountability, justice, and the protection of democratic values,” the Movement noted in the statement.
Then, in his strenuous efforts to wriggle out of his embattlement and to set the records straight, Morka had cried foul in defending his utterance to several deaf ears that have drawn their conclusions and hauled abuses at him.
He explained in one of the several statements he signed that; “to be clear and for the record, I did not threaten Mr. Obi or his family or those around him or anyone. I have absolutely no reason to, and have never, threatened Obi or anyone. Nothing that I said in that interview or any other forum remotely contained or suggested a threat against Mr. Obi or anyone else, as the verbatim transcription of the relevant clip indisputably attested.”
Reacting further, Morka explained that his response during the interview session was in the exclusive context of the question, threatening that he will, however, explore any available recourse mechanisms in valiant defence of his decency and impeccable reputation.
The embattled ruling party’s spokesperson also argued that Obi’s claims that he threatened his life were a self-evident malicious lie and an attention-seeking, playing-the-victim, emotional blackmail, just as he described his claim as patently false and reprehensible.
The highly infuriated Morka wondered how the former Anambra State governor, leading a restless band of online mob, attacking, intimidating, bullying, and issuing death threats to other citizens, could complain against other Nigerians expressing their fundamental rights.
“More than any other Nigerian in this political dispensation, Mr. Obi has exercised his fundamental liberty to speak and disseminate his political views in person, in formal, and on social media. Obi leads a restless band of online mobs who continue to attack, intimidate, bully, and issue death threats to other citizens who dare disagree or criticize Obi or his opinions or position on any subject or material conversation.
“Many eminent and highly respected elder statesmen have been serially attacked, humiliated, and bullied by Obi’s online followers. Obi has never condemned their conduct or called them to order.
“Obi must think himself to be Nigeria’s sacred cow, the super citizen, quintessential, without blemish, beyond reproach, always right, never wrong, and endowed with the supreme and inalienable right to deride, castigate, intimidate blackmail and incite Nigerians against other political leaders who disagree with him, even those who defeated him decisively in the last general election.
“We call on Mr. Obi to immediately set the record straight, withdraw his false allegation against me, and call his online supporters to order. I stand ready to explore all available recourse mechanisms in valiant defence of my decency and impeccable reputation,” Morka said.
And to show that Morka was not fighting a standalone battle, the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, also threw his hat into the ring to exonerate Morka from any complicity.
According to the former Kano State Governor, “by falsely claiming that Morka threatened his life, Mr. Obi has libelled Morka in the extreme and incited his online supporters to issue death threats against Morka and his family.
“Morka’s comments during the interview were strictly in response to a question referencing ‘prophets of doom’ and ‘voodoo economics.’ Nothing in his statement constituted or suggested a threat to Obi or anyone else. Does Mr. Obi expect the APC to fold its arms and allow the opposition to propagate falsehoods without any response?” Ganduje queried, stressing that the APC will continue to counter baseless allegations against the Tinubu-led government with facts.
Describing Morka’s alleged threats on Obi as a disturbing emblem of the current administration’s unsettling strategy in addressing opposition figures, Atiku, in a statement, noted that; “this threat against Obi, coupled with the prolonged detention of Mahdi Shehu, a prominent voice of dissent and others, signals a worrisome shift towards an authoritarian governance model, where the rights of opposition voices are being suffocated.
“The choice of words the APC’s spokesperson used, particularly the ominous suggestion that Obi has ‘crossed the line’, revealed an alarming disdain for democratic principles. Such language, rooted in hostility, has no place in a free society where civil discourse and engagement should reign supreme,” Atiku said.
From all indications, it is becoming obvious that the whole gimmick and dramatic display could be a political rhetoric taken too far in the build-up to the 2027 presidential election and the gladiators’ desperation to remain relevant.
To many political watchers, the drama was the escalation of the unending cold war between the ruling and opposition political parties and their resolve to test their might ahead of the 2027 poll.
Contrary to the serious attention many appears to be attaching to the rift; pundits say, politicians are actually going through the familiar terrain of throwing tantrums at each other in the build- up to major elections.
And for those that may still be in doubt, as harmless as former President Goodluck Jonathan was in office, the chieftains of the opposition party then accused him of training thousands of killer squads against his real and imaginary detractors in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.
To confirm that the face-off was all about the forthcoming 2027 presidential election, the leadership of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) USA chapter, while adding its voice in condemning Morka’s utterance, attributed it to the poll.
“As a pro-democracy organisation, NADECO USA stands firm in its commitment to the protection of democratic principles and the rights of all individuals, irrespective of their political affiliations. Threats, intimidation, and divisive rhetoric have no place in a civil society.
“These actions from APC leaders suggest a deliberate strategy to undermine opposition voices and pave the way for further authoritarian measures ahead of the 2027 elections,” its President, Lloyd Ukwu, said.
Credit: The Sun