Nollywood actor Niyi Ralph has claimed that much of the anger against President Bola Tinubu is not about the economy, but about supporters of Peter Obi who still have not accepted the 2023 election.
He made the comments in an interview with Nolly TV. Ralph argued that Tinubu was never widely loved, and that the loudest hostility is coming from people who believe their candidate was robbed.
“People’s anger was because he won the 2023 election after all Nigeria has experienced. Those who believe they won that we don’t even know how they came to that conclusion, I mean the Obidients, and they’re still hurt,” he said.
He went further in the same conversation.
“People don’t hate Tinubu because of the economy, he is hated because he has never been loved from day one. Peter Obi supporters, Obidients, just envy him. They are angry and still hurt that Tinubu became the president in 2023 instead of their candidate with their calculations.”
That hurt, he said, has made criticism automatic.
“And you know because of that hurt there’s nothing you want do whether good or bad, they’ll condemn it.”
Ralph also challenged critics who say they could run the country better to put a plan on the table.
“You all are complaining that he’s not doing well and you want to do it, ok come out and tell us your plan cos Tinubu told us his plan before he assumed office and he’s doing it.”
INEC declared Tinubu of the APC the winner of the February 2023 presidential election, ahead of Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi. Obi’s supporters, known as Obidients, rejected the result and fought it in court. The courts upheld the declaration. Ralph’s interview treats that unfinished argument as the real source of today’s attacks, and treats complaints about hardship as cover.