The director-general of Obi-Datti presidential campaign council, Akin Osuntokun, has distanced himself from a press statement which claimed that the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akinolu, disallowed the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, from visiting him during his campaign rally in the state on Saturday.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Osuntokun said the said statement is deceptive and did not come from him.
“My attention has been drawn to a fictitious “Press Release” purportedly released by me titled “Oba of Lagos: LP courtesy Visit”,” the statement reads.
“The said deceptive release claimed, among other things that ‘We informed Oba of Lagos that Peter Obi wanted to come and pay homage to him before our rally in Lagos but Oba said that we should not come’. The fictitious release further claimed that Oba’s reason for not wanting to meet with Peter Obi was that ‘Oba is not interested in seeing another presidential candidate except Bola Tinubu’.
“I wish to clearly state that the fictitious release did not emanate from me, and I never had such a conversation with the revered Oba of Lagos or any of his representatives. Please disregard the release at whatever it represents.
“Henceforth, please disregard any other release that does not originate from our campaign’s official communication channels.”
On Saturday, the LP candidate had his last campaign rally at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos after travelling across the country to canvass for votes.
His supporters were attacked by hoodlums and some vehicles were destroyed at the rally venue.
Speaking on Arise TV’s morning show on Monday, the party’s state chairman, Dayo Ekong, said the damage ran into millions of naira.
She also spoke about why Mr Obi did not pay homage to the state’s monarch before his campaign rally.
Ms Ekong said she was told that the traditional ruler was not available.
“People say what they don’t know. If you have been following the trend of Peter Obi rally. He goes to the royal fathers, and pays his respects,” she said.