By Ike Abonyi
It would be unfair to my conscience as a Christian and a Journalist to allow Deji Adeyanju to continue with his false narrative in the name of activism on Peter Obi.
Sometimes in July 2022, ahead of the 2023 general election, and Peter Obi had picked the Labour Party Presidential ticket, Adeyanju was one of his ardent supporters and was contemplating running under the Labour Party for the AMAC seat in the House of Representatives.
As a friend of Deji and Obi, I decided to broker a meeting as I was contemplating Deji getting a waiver to pick the House of Rep ticket.
At the meeting, I went with Deji, and the three of us sat discussing. Obi narrated his political journey, nothing new from what he already related in the public space, and Deji also told his life story, how her mother has been very impactful in his life.
The issue of running for election came up and Obi said there will be no problem.
We left about three hours of frank talk. Nothing was offered either in monetary terms or as a physical gift. In fact, except for our telephone, we took nothing to the place.
A few weeks later, Deji was quoted as saying that Obi came to offer him money, but he refused, and that Obi told him he invested in the family business as a Governor.
I didn’t know what caused the sudden fabrication, whether he was expecting Obi to have offered something, and was disappointed it didn’t come. I couldn’t make sense out of it. I called Deji and wanted to know if he met with Obi after our meeting and he kept mum.
I was forced to issue a statement, then to clarify the issue. (Find the 2022 statement attached and can be found in Google as ” *(it’s a lie from the pit of hell, Abonyi replies Adeyanju over comment on Obi)*
I therefore still find it necessary to restate the story of what happened and to express disappointment that someone I call a friend should go on such a voyage of blackmail blatantly.
In 2022, when this happened, Deji was not yet a lawyer but a student. I had thought that after being a lawyer, called to the Nigerian bar at such an adult age to fight and defend truth and justice, Deji should not indulge in this type of fallacy and should appreciate why a person like Obi will do anything to defend his hard-earned reputation.
I will therefore urge Deji to strive to be honourable and follow the path of truth if he hopes to grow in the legal profession.
Signed
Ike Abonyi
Journalist.
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