The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has explained that the Oba of Lagos, HRH Rilwan Akiolu, was not “readily available” when he requested to visit him during his campaign in the nation’s economic capital.
“On my arrival in Lagos, I did say that I wanted to visit the Oba, whom I regard as a father figure,” Obi said Monday on Channels Television’s special election program, The 2023 Verdict.
It is customary for presidential candidates to pay homage to first-class traditional rulers when they visit states to campaign, but controversy surrounded Obi’s inability to meet the Lagos monarch during his outing in the state.
However, the former governor of Anambra State said the reports that the first-class monarch refused to see him were untrue.
Obi said what happened in Lagos wasn’t unusual, as it had happened during his planned visits to traditional rulers in states where he had campaigned.
According to him, one or two monarchs were not readily available to receive him in the past, but they fixed future dates.
He said, “Some even say, ‘Oh, he (the Oba of Lagos) refused to see me.’ It is not true.
“The truth is that when we arrived, we wanted to do what we wanted to do: arrive and drive to the palace and see the Oba, but we were told that he was not readily available and that we should apply and come at some other date, which we intend to do because he remains a highly respected father to me and to the entire nation.”
