Peter Obi’s 6.1 million votes driven by religious rhetoric — Bwala

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has claimed that Peter Obi's 6.1 million votes in the 2023 presidential election were largely secured through religious rhetoric. Speaking on Channels Television's Politics Today on Thursday, Bwala attributed Obi's support to the ruling All Progressives Congress fielding a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, which he said made it easier to mobilize religious sentiment. He claimed Obi leveraged this dynamic to amplify his appeal during the election cycle.

Bwala also questioned the authenticity of Obi's online following, stating that a significant portion of those known as "Obidients" are bot accounts rather than real people. He said, "When we keep quiet, Peter Obi and his Obidients, from morning till the next morning, are talking about Asiwaju government… When we respond to them, you say we are reacting to them." According to Bwala, genuine human supporters of Obi are fewer in number than they appear online.

He further argued that religious leaders who backed Obi during the election no longer support him, claiming, "The same religious leaders that followed him at that time, right now, they don't feel his energy anymore." Bwala attributed this shift to the absence of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the current political climate. He also criticized Obi's leadership, asserting that none of his former commissioners or aides from his tenure as Anambra governor remain with him. Bwala noted that Obi had associates like Valentine Ozigbo and Kennedy Okonkwo in 2019, but said only Aisha remains close now.

On Sunday, Obi and former presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso left the African Democratic Congress for the Nigeria Democratic Congress amid internal party crises and ongoing litigation.

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