*’When Govt Communication Descends To Name-calling, It Is Usually Because Results Are Scarce And Anger Is Abundant’
*’As Tinubu’s Spokesman, You Should Know Insults Don’t Win Elections, Arrogance Does Not Intimidate Hungry People’
*’Nigerians will decide in 2027…And 2027 Is Not Yours By Entitlement. Say It Plainly. Or Watch Nigerians Say It For You’
Thursday’s defection of Peter Obi from Labour Party (LP) to main opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), has ignited a ‘war’ between two spokesmen of leading political personalities in the land.
In one corner is presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, while in the opposite corner is Phrank Shaibu, spokesman of Atiku Abubakar, who is an ADC heavyweight and Nigeria’s former Vice President.
Shaibu, who is Special Assistant on Public Communications, on Thursday, described President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman, Onanuga’s response to Obi’s defection as an indication of panic in “Aso Rock.”
Recall that the presidential spokesman had said Obi’s comments during his defection showed that the former Anambra State governor was “still bitter” over the 2023 presidential election, in which Obi ran on LP ticket, losing, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to Tinubu.
Pouring further scorn on Obi’s speech during the defection, Onanuga claimed he would eventually end up as Atiku’s 2027 running mate in ADC even at a time Obi had earlier declared that his (Obi’s) name would be on the ballot.
Reacting, Shaibu thumbed down Onanuga’s claim that Obi will end up as Atiku’s running mate, dismissing it as pure fiction.
Posting on X, Shaibu appeared to lecture Onanuga, thus: “My dear Bayo Onanuga, as media adviser to @officialABAT, this outburst says more about panic in Aso Rock than it does about @PeterObi.
“You did not write as a media manager; you wrote as a defender under pressure. And pressure replaces reason with ridicule and facts with abuse.”
Furthermore, Shaibu posted: “Calling Obi ‘wandering’ while defending an administration built on political migrations and elite bargains is hypocrisy dressed up as commentary.
“Nigerian politics has never been a monastery. You know this. Pretending otherwise insults your own record.
“Your attempt to brand legitimate electoral grievances as “bitterness” is not analysis; it is damage control. Millions of Nigerians questioned the 2023 process. You can sneer at them, but you cannot erase them.
“And then the insults—crude, reckless, unbecoming of someone speaking for the Presidency.
“When government communication descends into name-calling, it is usually because results are scarce and anger is abundant.
“You dismiss global ideas while defending policies copied wholesale from elsewhere. You praise “homegrown solutions” while celebrating reforms Nigerians experience only as hunger, insecurity, and collapsing livelihoods.
“Propaganda does not change lived reality. Your confidence that Obi will “play second fiddle” to @atiku is pure fiction. There is no ticket, no candidate, no imposed hierarchy. What exists is a coalition conversation—and that is what truly unsettles you.
“Let’s be honest: this fury is not about Obi. It is about 2027.
“It is about fear that Nigerians are organising beyond your control.
“As Tinubu’s spokesman, you should know this: insults don’t win elections, spin doesn’t fill stomachs, and arrogance does not intimidate hungry people.
“Nigerians will decide in 2027—not media advisers, not propaganda merchants, and certainly not intimidation masquerading as analysis.
“Nigeria is not a monarchy. Power is not inherited. And 2027 is not yours by entitlement. Say it plainly. Or watch the people say it for you.”
*PHOTO CAPTION: Shaibu (left) and Onanuga.
