Key Highlights
- Keyamo wants DSS to arrest and prosecute Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed for committing treason and making inciting comments.
- Keyamo accused Peter Obi and Baba-Ahmed of not being prepared to toe the conciliatory path for peace and national cohesion.
- He also accused the duo of camping some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with instructions to push out inciting messages on social media every day to cause panic and fear and also incite a riot.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment and the Chief Spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has submitted a petition to the Department of State Services (DSS) against the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Keyamo is demanding for their arrest and prosecution for treasonable felony and inciting comments which he said are capable of causing rebellion and disrupting peace, law and order in the country.
This was confirmed on Thursday by Keyamo through a tweet post on his official Twitter account where he called on the DSS to rein them in for their conduct and utterances which bother on incitement and treason.
Keyamo in the petition noted that in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to soothe frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process.
Accuses Obi and Baba-Ahmed of not being prepared for reconciliation
Keyamo in his petition said;
- ‘’I write this petition with the full realization that in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to soothe frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process. The President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a statement to this effect a few days ago.
- ‘‘However, it appears the President and Vice-Presidential Candidates of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances.’’
Keyamo noted that since the declaration of the Presidential election results, the duo have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said;
- “These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution.
- “In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government.
- “The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023, it would ‘signal the end of democracy’. Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as ‘unconstitutional’ and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023.
- “I also have it on good authority that Mr Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages every day on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and social unrest.
- “It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted Elections Petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to a subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances. These conduct and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister and it is important you rein them in now!
- “In the circumstance, I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals to court for their conduct which amounts to incitement and treasonable felony”.
What you should know
- Recall that on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, Baba-Ahmed had during an interview on Channels Television, called into question the constitutionality of swearing in the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on May 29 and asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari not to inaugurate the president-elect.
- He argued that going ahead with Tinubu’s inauguration would be unconstitutional and would end democracy as he has not been able to meet the constitutional requirements.
- Peter Obi has also made appearances on Arise Television and Channels Television, where he criticised the presidential elections, describing it as a sham.
