Dele Alake, the Special Adviser on Media to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu has raised the alarm over plans by a United States-based Nigerian, Lloyd Ukwu, to discredit the victory of his Principal, on February 25, 2023, presidential election.
In a statement on Thursday, Alake said Ukwu, who claims to be the Executive Director of the National Democratic Coalition, plans to organise a press conference allegedly intended to disparage and cast aspersions on the credibility of the presidential poll.
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According to him, Ukwu is an impostor, hellbent on hoodwinking unsuspecting Nigerians in the Diaspora and the international community to further a sinister agenda on behalf of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, who came a distant third in the last presidential election.
The statement read in part, “That Ukwu is attempting to fraudulently exploit the NADECO platform for Peter Obi against Asiwaju Tinubu is so laughable and a grave insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians, who witnessed first-hand the struggle by the pro-democracy group in restoring democratic rule to Nigeria and the roles played by prominent Nigerians, including independence hero and nationalist, Late Chief Anthony Enahoro, Asiwaju Tinubu, Professor Wole Soyinka, General Alani Ipoola Akinrinade, late Commodore Dan Suleiman, Late Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and several other pro-democracy activists in exile to birth the freedom from the military dictatorship that Nigerians enjoy today.
“We reiterate that Ukwu was very peripheral to this group of eminent statesmen and illustrious Nigerians who bore the pain and peril of exile so that our country could be free from the jackboot of military dictatorship of Late General Sani Abacha.
“It is imperative to remind Ukwu and his desperate paymasters that while Asiwaju Tinubu put his life and resources on the line during those challenging times, the likes of Peter Obi were either hobnobbing with the military or nowhere to be found.
“In trying to robe himself in an unbefitting garb, Ukwu’s desperation to confer credibility on his mission by using the NADECO name is bound to hit a dead-end and ignominy. To hide under the name of NADECO to deceive the international media and interest groups is an act that should be condemned by right-thinking people.
“We are of a firm belief that Lloyd Ukwu is an agent of the Labour Party and Peter Obi, who were rejected by the majority of Nigerians at the February 25 polls.
“Majority of Nigerians have spoken loud and clear that Asiwaju Tinubu is their choice to lead Nigeria from May 29, 2023. There is absolutely nothing Ukwu and his ilk can do to change this fact of history.”