In an apparent cancel campaign against Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Bashir Ahmad, President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide, says northerners dislike Mr Obi and will always work against his presidential bid.

On Wednesday, In a tweet he made in Hausa language to conceal the meaning of his message from non-Hausa speaking audience, Mr Bashir described Mr Obi as one who dislikes northerners. 

A translation of Mr Bashir’s Hausa tweet reads: “Since Mr. Peter has clearly shown that he doesn’t like us, so we don’t like him either. If he stands for election 1000 times, we won’t vote for him 1000 times. We thank God for always showing us his character clearly.”

Mr Obi, on several occasions, has promised to rescue the country, especially Northern Nigeria, from poverty. 

“Beyond regaining our mandate, I am committed to lifting people out of poverty and I remain committed to transforming Nigeria starting from the North to every part of the nation,” Mr Obi said in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

Mr Bashir, a northerner, is not new to playing ethnic cards and concealing the meaning of divisive messages in Hausa language.

Before now, Mr Bashir in 2020, in another Hausa tweet, promised to make contact to influence a court decision in favour of his kinsman, Yunusa Dahiru (Yellow), who was imprisoned for child trafficking and sexual exploitation of Ese Oruru. 

A Twitter user, Hammad Yusuf Saleh, had in a tweet asked Mr Bashir to intervene after a Yenagoa division of the Federal High Court had sent Dahiru to 26 years imprisonment for child trafficking and sexual exploitation of Ese Oruru.

Replying the tweet in Hausa, Mr Bashir said “my brother, I do not have the power to do anything against the judgement of the court, but I will try to contact those whom I think are capable.”