Peter Obi, who once ran for president, has openly criticized the federal government under President Tinubu for accusing #EndBadGovernance protesters of treason.

He pointed out that the government mishandled the situation, even though the citizens had given a month’s notice before the protest took place.

Speaking in an interview with News Central on Monday, Obi, who previously served as the governor of Anambra State, said that during his time in office, he never used the police to arrest people who were protesting.

Obi argued that it was wrong for the government to avoid talking with peaceful protesters, especially those protesting due to hunger, and instead, have them arrested by the police.

Obi said:

 “I’ve said everybody, they have right to protest. I said it before. I would discuss with every protester. They even warned government months before they did that. I would sit down and discuss with them. People protested when I was governor. They even called strike. They shut down schools for months, our hospitals. I was talking with them.

“I have never as a politician, as a governor ask any police to go and arrest anybody. It shouldn’t be. In a democracy, people have right to say no. I’ve said it every day. If I’m managing this facility and everybody loves me, I will resign. This is me.

“Wherever I am, I believe that I have enemies. My job is to convince them. If everybody loves me, that is a problem. There are people who hate me because I’m just Peter. They don’t even need to give me any reason. It is my job to convince them on why it should be. I convinced the teachers why we should return schools to missionaries and they see the result.

“You just have to. It’s a constant thing. Whenever you’re a leader, you’re a communicator. You listen, you talk to the people. The agitators, the protesters, how are they talking to them?”