Social commentator and human rights activist, Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalink, has said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, lacks the qualities required to lead Nigeria, arguing that his politics is divisive and driven by what he described as an online “mob.”
Awosanya made the remarks during an interview on Vanguard’s Politics Hub, where he spoke on the state of the nation, the 2027 general election and Obi’s presidential ambition.
Describing the former Anambra State governor, Segalink said Obi had built his political appeal around public anger rather than national leadership.
“It is obvious to the blind and audible to the deaf, that somebody who is playing to the gallery, who postures as one thing and is actually another should be revealed for who they are,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, Peter Obi is just a leader of the mob, somebody who is surfing the wave of the angry people… to demonize people and blackmail people in order to gain attention to themselves, and then bully themselves into political power.”
Responding to a question on whether his criticism stemmed from his perceived disagreement with Obi’s supporters, Awosanya dismissed the suggestion, saying he had no personal conflict with the Obidient movement.
“There’s no friction between me and anybody. I don’t even recognize them as anything. I’m focused on what I’m doing,” he said.
He alleged that members of the Obidient movement attempted to hijack the #EndSARS protests for political purposes.
“If you look at the antecedent of the Obidient group, they were one of the cancerous nodes within the EndSARS advocacy… they wanted to use the movement for their own game. And when they failed, they demonised everybody within the system,” he claimed.
Awosanya also explained why he had previously spoken positively about Obi before becoming one of his critics.
“When I commended Peter Obi, I commended him because he was at the time speaking to issues that border on vulnerable individuals in the country,” he said, adding that his earlier comments were “not promotion” but an observation.
He, however, maintained that Obi was unfit for the presidency because of what he described as his divisive political record.
“When I eventually conclude that he cannot be president is because of his divisiveness… He brought Christians against Catholics when he was governor, and he did a lot of things that he’s preaching against today. Evidence are there,” Awosanya said.
He further argued that widespread narratives on social media should not be mistaken for facts, adding, “The fact that the lie is viral doesn’t make it the truth.”
