Ayo Oyalowo, a President Bola Tinubu appointee, has labelled an Arise TV journalist an “IPOB girl,” pushing a toxic and divisive anti-Igbo ethnic slur.  

Mr Oyalowo, who was appointed as one of the directors of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, made the remark in a tweet on Friday, referring to Arise TV’s Ojy Okpe as an “IPOB girl.”  

He was reacting to an edition of Arise Morning Show in which journalists Oseni Rufai and Ms Okpe accused TVC’s Babajide Otitoju of initially opposing Mr Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State but later supporting the move after it was officially announced.  

“Rufai and that stupid IPOB girl think they can rubbish @BabajideOtitoju because they work for an ambush TV? Are they mad or what?” Mr Oyalowo said.  

Mr Oyalowo added, “Is Jide their mate both in age and in experience? This is insanity taken too far, and I will personally be mad at Jide if he lets this rubbish slide.”  

During the show, Ms Okpe, the only female panellist, raised Mr Otitoju’s previous statement, while Mr Rufai accused Mr Otitoju of double-speak — an accusation Mr Otitoju has debunked as an “open lie.”  

“There is nothing like taking back what I said. Reading the Constitution, I was convinced that the president has no power to suspend democratic structures. It is borderline irresponsibility for anybody to say Jide took back what he said,” Mr Otitoju said.  

Referring to the Arise TV show, Mr Otitoju said, “No TV station in Nigeria can rubbish the name I have made. I was forged in the fire of qualitative journalism. I was trained by the best. Some of the people at the TV stations that openly lied against me—some of their best in that station—passed through me.”  

Though Mr Tinubu has repeatedly called for unity among Nigerians since assuming office, this marks yet another instance of his appointees attacking perceived dissenters or using divisive rhetoric against critics of the government.  

Previously, Bayo Onanuga, a spokesperson for Mr Tinubu, had called for the outright exclusion of Igbos from Lagos State politics, describing them as an “existential threat” to the Yoruba people.  

Earlier in the week, two of Mr Tinubu’s appointees, Temitope Ajayi and Tope Fasua, joined internet trolls in attacking a Lagos corps member, Ushie ‘Raye’ Uguamaye, who had criticised Mr Tinubu as a terrible leader while lamenting economic hardship in the country.  

Mr Ajayi, in a Facebook post, said the corps member deserved capital punishment—death—for criticising Mr Tinubu, while Mr Fasua, in a cryptic Facebook post, labelled her a prostitute.