By Veteran journalist, Sam Omatseye has come under fire on social media over his recent article on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.
In the piece titled “Obi-tuary” published in his weekly column on The Nation newspapers on Monday, the columnist claimed Obi is a supporter of the proscribed separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“Obi has turned out to be an excuse for even closet Biafrans to betray open emotions about Biafra without being accused of it. This includes intellectuals who did not show mercy to him while he reigned in Anambra as a pharisaic chief executive. It is like wearing a colour beneath another colour. Obi has become a shelter for both miscreants and activists of the crowd,” he wrote in the now-controversial article.
However, many Nigerians appeared to have been angered by Omatseye’s comments on the LP candidate who enjoys a strong support base on social media.
Like flies to dung, they descended on him and condemned the article, with some even alleging that the journalist did a hatchet job on orders of the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Here are some of their reactions on Twitter:
This article titled OBI-TUARY is actually from the editor-in-chief of Tinubu's newspaper, The Nation.
Tomorrow, you people will say Peter Obi's supporters are vile, full of hate. Well this is not 2014/2015, none of you journalists will get away again with bullshit journalism. https://t.co/cRnDniyV9W
— Galileo (@FAGalileo) August 1, 2022
Wow. It’s one thing to support @officialABAT and not @PeterObi. That’s your right. But this is not what a journalist of your experience should write or say, @samomatseye. This is pretty incendiary… https://t.co/ASLZfMX3vL
— Osasu Obayiuwana (@osasuo) August 1, 2022
Another slave in the Tinubu maize plantation has revealed himself. https://t.co/lYtlRetJUu
— Dr Ayo Sogunro (@ayosogunro) August 1, 2022
How can a veteran like Sam Omatseye use the back page of a national newspaper like the Nation to write something so polarising like this?
Comparing Peter Obi to IPOB, calling his supporters Obituary, is wrong.
Time will tell who belongs to the caterwauling group. 2023 will tell. pic.twitter.com/WJ5EVfIcB3— President Eniola Daniel (@UnlimitedEniola) August 1, 2022
That article by Sam Omatseye is thoroughly disgusting.
The media arm of propaganda is out. However, this is not 2015. Take note.
— Rinu Oduala 🔥🔫 (@SavvyRinu) August 1, 2022
Crass journalism contrived from supposedly olympian heights of journalism into full immersion in the pedestrian bastion. Most regretable that Sam Omatseye has joined the partisan ranks of nattering nabobs of negativism. -OHO https://t.co/0G0oQ7Vnc9
— Oseloka H. Obaze (@OselokaHObaze) August 1, 2022
Sam Omatseye is 61yrs.
PO is 61yrs old. PO was already a billionaire at 30 sat on several boards of banks and establishments as chairman went on to become a two term Governor of Anambra state now vying for President of Nigeria but Alas! Sam is dancing bongo in the market square pic.twitter.com/Z623SdQFtQ— VC Ekezie (@Ekezieukwu) August 1, 2022
An empty hateful article – by a rabid bigot Sam Omatseye. https://t.co/CUIGHKBSGp
— Pepitone (@Joyismi) August 1, 2022
Why are you guys surprised. You will see more respected veterans unravel.
The forces we fight are great and mighty but we will overcome.
Very distasteful piece from Sam Omatseye. Even thought they published it without his permission but he now tweeted it. Shameful. https://t.co/vfhMWavUP0
— Mo-Mo💙 (@Morris_Monye) August 1, 2022
Another reason not to vote his candidate. Sam Omatseye could be the replacement for Femi Adesina or Lai Mohammed in the event that his candidate wins. His work is already speaking. https://t.co/9fsys0tYlK
— Jude Fashagba (@judefash) August 1, 2022
