‘She wrote fiction’ — Onanuga asks Biden to trash Chimamanda’s letter

Bayo Onanuga, media director of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, says US President Joe Biden should discard the letter written to him by Chimamanda Adichie.

Addressing allegations of manipulation in the 2023 presidential election, Adichie, the celebrated Nigerian novelist, wrote a long read to Biden on Thursday. 

In the letter, the author of ‘Americanah’ said the presidential election was marred with discrepancies and irregularities which she claims were shunned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

She said despite the promise of a free and credible election, Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, “hastily” announced Bola Tinubu of the APC as the winner of the election without investigating reports of irregularities.

Adichie asked Biden to uphold his stance on the need for a true democracy, adding that congratulating Tinubu tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democratic processes.

Reacting, Onanuga said Adichie’s letter is “inspired by the loss of her tribesman”, noting that the allegations in the letter are a figment of her imagination.

“Dear President Joe Biden, please just trash the open letter by Chimamanda on Nigeria’s election once it gets to your desk. She wrote fiction, inspired by the monumental loss of her tribesman Peter Obi,” Onanuga wrote on Twitter.

The former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) described Adichie’s letter as “tales by the moonlight”.

Tinubu, standard bearer of the APC, secured 8,794,726 votes to win the presidential election.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 6,984,520 votes while Obi of the Labour Party (LP) polled 6,101,533.

Obi and Atiku have filed petitions at the tribunal challenging the outcome of the presidential election.