Deji Adeyanju lying, Obi didn’t make him any offer – Journalist
By Jeffrey Agbo
Renowned journalist, Ike Abonyi, has dismissed claims by lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, that the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, offered him money for support.
In a statement issued on Friday, Abonyi said he personally brokered and attended the meeting between Obi and Adeyanju ahead of the 2023 elections.
The columnist explained that Obi never made any monetary or material offer during their three-hour discussion, contrary to Adeyanju’s account on social media.
The statement read, “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.”
Abonyi expressed disappointment that Adeyanju, now a lawyer, would still peddle what he called “a voyage of blackmail,” urging him to uphold truth and honour if he hopes to grow in his profession.
