The Federal Government has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the ongoing electoral process with his alleged inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls.
This disclosure is contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who said that the former president’s letter is a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and an incitement to violence.
Mohammed expressed shock and disbelief that a former President could purportedly throw around unverified claims and amplify “wild allegations” picked up from the streets against the electoral process.
FG accuses Obasanjo of bias and partisanship
Mohammed said the former president is not in the position to counsel President Muhammadu Buhari on elections.
- The minister said, “Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is, in reality, a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters.
- “As the whole nation waits with bated breath for the result of last Saturday’s national elections, amid unnecessary tension created by professional complainants and political jesters, what is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.
- “Instead, former President Obasanjo used his unsolicited letter to insinuate, or perhaps wish for, an inconclusive election and a descent into anarchy; used his time to cast aspersion on electoral officials who are unable to defend themselves, while surreptitiously seeking to dress his personal choice in the garb of the people’s choice. This is duplicitous.
- “With a deployment of over 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process, and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across our vast country, INEC seems to be availing itself creditably, going by the preliminary reports of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group, among other groups that observed the election.
- “Therefore, those arrogating to themselves the power to cancel an election and unilaterally fix a date for a new one, ostensibly to ameliorate perceived electoral infractions, should please exercise restraint and allow the official electoral body to conclude its duty by announcing the results of the 2023 national elections.”
- “After that, anyone who is aggrieved must follow the stipulated legal process put in place to adjudicate electoral disputes, instead of threatening fire and conjuring apocalypse,” he added.
In case you missed it
- Former President Obasanjo had in a letter on Monday raised the alarm of looming danger across the country over the alleged manipulation of the ongoing electoral process.
- Obasanjo, who advised President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to address the concerns raised over the alleged discrepancies regarding the results of the general election, appealed to the president to prevail on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, to stop the process and rectify the raised issues.
- The former president also accused INEC officials at the operational level of being allegedly compromised to make their server not work.
Without prejudice to the substance of the issues arising from the recent national elections, the FG cannot “warn” any Nigerian (even an Okada man, much less a former president) against exercising the constitutional right of free speech. If said speech is in breach of the law, then take the person to court.
Given the background of the current president, it may be necessary to remind the likes of Lai Mohammed and the rest of his government that NIGERIA IS NOT A DICTATORSHIP!