Political commentator and former presidential aide Reno Omokri has revealed the reasons behind his decision to actively oppose the Obidient movement, linking it to personal threats and a fallout with Peter Obi.
In a conversation on Breakfast Central on Thursday, Omokri addressed accusations that he harbours a vendetta against Obi and his supporters.
“I took a vow to destroy that movement because Peter Obi was a project of mine,” he stated, explaining how he once championed Obi’s political rise.
According to Omokri, he, along with Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and a former president, was instrumental in propelling Obi onto the national stage and in making him Atiku Abubakar’s running mate in the 2019 presidential elections.
“I was responsible for Peter Obi becoming the running mate to Waziri Atiku Abubakar in 2019. I’ve said this publicly. I’ve got the documents. I’m a meticulous record keeper,” he claimed.
Omokri admitted that while Obi’s unexpected departure from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) without consulting those who had supported him caused a rift, the turning point, he said, was the behaviour of Obi’s supporters.
“Peter Obi’s movement, Obidients, started attacking me, threatening me, insulting me. That was OK. But then they moved from myself to my family. I just had a daughter at that time. There were multiple death threats,” alleging that the threats escalated to real-world encounters.
“They came to my house in the United Kingdom. They trailed my wife and me when we were jogging. They found out my jogging route and pursued me, threatening me.”
In response, Omokri reached out to Obi, expecting intervention. However, he claims Obi refused to denounce a specific individual involved in the harassment. This perceived inaction, Omokri said, led him to a decisive stance to deploy “whatever political machinery I have to destroy that movement.”
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