The President‑elect’s camp, led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, warned on Thursday of an alleged imminent smear campaign against their leader by a United States‑based Nigerian named Lloyd Ukwu, whom they claim is allied with Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi. Obi’s campaign team denied the allegation, accusing the ruling APC of being a propaganda‑driven party that is perennially afraid of even its own shadow.
NADECO was founded on 15 May 1994 by a coalition of Nigerian democrats and activists who pressured the military government of the late General Sani Abacha to step down in favor of the winner of the 12 June 1993 election, Moshood Abiola. The coalition’s members, largely from the South‑West, became symbols of mass resistance against military rule and the struggle to restore democracy. The founding 49 signatories included Late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Mallam Lawal Dambazzau, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo (ret.), Chief Bola Ige, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Professor Anya O. Anya, Colonel Yohanna Madaki, Reverend Father Moses Adasu, Dr Beko Ransome‑Kuti, Reverend Tunji Adebiyi, Chief Ade Ojo, Chief Ralph Obioha, Chief Empire Kanu, Chief Michael Anyiam, Dr Sola Soile, Vice Admiral Akin Aduwo, Chief E. Duru, and many others such as Mr Nick Dazzang, Mr Labaran Maku, Dr A. A. Akingba, Mr Babas Eko Oyekanmi, Mr Alex Ayatolla, Mrs Sarah Jubril, Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, Mr O. P. Edodo, Mr A. Barber, Otunba Olabiyi Durojaiye, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Chief John Odigie‑Oyegun, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, Alhaji Mohammed Siraj Hamza, Dr Wahab Dosunmu, Otunba Aboyade Cole, Major General Olufemi Olutoye (rtd), Chief Sobo Sowemimo, Dr Steve Achema, Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, Chief Olu Falae, Brigadier‑General Jonah Jang, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Mr Alao Aka‑Bashorun, Mr Emmanuel Njiwah, Chief Vincent Nwizugbo and Dr Uma Eleazu.
Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President‑elect, issued a statement titled “Public Alert on Nefarious Agenda of NADECO Impostor, Lloyd Ukwu, in the United States of America.” He described Ukwu as an impostor who claims to be NADECO’s Executive Director and disclosed intelligence that the alleged impostor planned a media conference to deceive Nigerians in the diaspora. Alake said:
> “Our attention has been drawn to an attempt by Lloyd Ukwu, a United States‑based Nigerian claiming to be the Executive Director of the National Democratic Coalition, to organise a press conference specifically intended to disparage and cast aspersions on the credibility of the 2023 presidential election freely and fairly won by Tinubu. It must be stated emphatically and without any ambiguity that Ukwu is an impostor, hell‑bent on hoodwinking unsuspecting Nigerians in the diaspora and the international community. That Ukwu is attempting to fraudulently exploit the NADECO platform for Obi against Asiwaju Tinubu is so laughable and a grave insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians, who witnessed first‑hand the struggle by the pro‑democracy group in restoring democratic rule to Nigeria and the roles played by prominent Nigerians, including independence hero Late Chief Anthony Enahoro, Asiwaju Tinubu, Professor Wole Soyinka, General Alani Akinrinade, Late Commodore Dan Suleiman, Late Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and several other pro‑democracy activists in exile. We reiterate that Ukwu was very peripheral to this group of eminent statesmen and illustrious Nigerians who bore the pain and peril of exile so that our country could be free from the jackboot of military dictatorship of Late General Sani Abacha. It is imperative to remind Ukwu and his desperate paymasters that while Tinubu put his life and resources on the line during those challenging times, the likes of Obi were nowhere to be found.”
In response, Yunusa Tanko, chief spokesman for the Obi‑Datti Presidential Campaign Council, dismissed the claim. He said, “We don’t even know the Lloyd Ukwu they are talking about nor any alleged move to discredit our principal. The man in question has not said anything; you are already pre‑empting that he will say something. How did you know about it? Tinubu’s camp is actually the one flying the kite. My principal doesn’t even know anything. The guilty are always abroad. The APC is always afraid of everything, including its own shadow.”
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