The federal government Tuesday slammed President Olusegun Obasanjo for recently making “inciting, self-serving and provocative” statements capable of truncating the 2023 electoral process.
Obasanjo, had, in a press statement Monday, raised the alarm over alleged shady deal in the handling of the outcome of Saturday’s presidential election.
The former president had said: “Until last Saturday night, February 25, 2023, the good and noble plan and preparation for the election seemed to be going well. For the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a lot of money was spent to introduce Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Server for immediate transmission of results from polling units.
“It is no secret that INEC officials, at operational level, have been allegedly compromised to make what should have worked not to work and to revert to manual transmission of results which is manipulated and the results doctored.
“The Chairman of INEC may claim ignorance but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing when he knows that election process has been corrupted and, most of the results that are brought outside BVAS and Server are not true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice.”
FG replies
Replying the former president, the federal government said what the former president cunningly framed as an “appeal for caution and rectification” was nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a willful incitement to violence.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said this in a statement signed by Segun Adeyemi, the special assistant to the president (media), office of the minister.
The minister expressed shock and disbelief that a former president “could throw around unverified claims and amplify wild allegations picked up from the streets against the electoral process.”
“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,’’ he said.
Mohammed claimed that the former president, in his time, organised perhaps the worst elections since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
According to the minister, Obasanjo is the least qualified to advise a president whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent elections is well acknowledged within and outside Nigeria.
“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 elections and a descent into anarchy.
“He 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,’’ he said.
The minister reminded the former president that organising elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat, considering the fact that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country was 16,742,916 more than the total number of registered voters, and at 76,726,092, in 14 West African nations put together.
Mohammed said that the process was not a mean feat considering the deployment of more than 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across the vast country,
The minister said INEC was 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 elections.
“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.
“They should 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 said.
Akinrinade
Also, a war veteran, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s comment on the polls.
In a statement titled “An interloping former president is a present danger to democracy” in Ibadan, Oyo state Tuesday, Akinrinade, who was at different times Chief of Army Staff and Defence Staff, said Nigeria is on the right path.
He said Obasanjo’s “statement coming at a time when the Independent National Electoral Commission was still busy with the conduct and release of the elections results is both unfortunate and a glaring and calculative attempt to game the system. Without any shred of evidence a former President is challenging the integrity of a national elections and calling a seating President to truncate it midway.
“As a General who fought for the unity of this country and one that has witnessed the many twists and turns of our democratic development, I am certain that Nigeria this time is on the right path. I find it most disturbing and objectionable that a former General and President will introduce such a diatribe into the body politic of Nigeria at such a delicate time as this.
“Being not neutral, Obasanjo’s intervention falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that is already the constitutional responsibility of INEC. Nigerians can easily recall the Obasanjo years and his democratic antics and many bullish attempts at circumventing the political process.
“I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s recent interruptions and focus on supporting the lawful institution to do its job by allowing the process to run its full course. The President Buhari I know will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner to truncate the ongoing political process.
“Luckily, President Buhari is made of finer and more principled democratic stuff. He will not allow Obasanjo to lure him into tainting his democratic credentials in this regard. I recall that in his last trip to the United States, President Joe Biden praised Buhari’s commitment to democratic values and principles. Obasanjo has no such record to be applauded.
“The world has not forgotten his fraudulent and undemocratic attempt at a third term agenda in violation of the letter and spirit of the Nigerian constitution. In 2007, after his botched third term bid, Obasanjo conducted the worst election in the history of Nigeria. The beneficiary of that electoral heist, late President Umaru Yar’Adua openly admitted that his presidency was a product of a fraudulent election with a commitment to reform the electoral process. Nigerians have voted. Their votes have counted. Let no one disrupt the process.”
Afenifere cautions
Similarly, Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, insisted INEC be allowed to constitutionally conclude the electoral process, saying doing otherwise could truncate the nation’s current democratic dispensation.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary Jare Ajayi said this in statement, Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by Blueprint.
While noting that the elections might have been fraught with some shortcomings, the body said these “do not constitute enough grounds to truncate the entire process.
“The ongoing announcement of election results should be concluded. Those who are not satisfied either with the process or the outcome can seek redress through the paths outlined by the law – Elections Tribunal and the Court.
“Anything short of that may lead to the truncation of the democracy we are practicing now.”
“Afenifere, from its formation over 70 years ago, has always stood for democracy and good governance. Along with others, it fought for independence for the country just as it fought valiantly with others for the ouster of the military. It did this through the formation of the National Democratic Coalition, along with other patriotic Nigerians. Many of our leaders and young elements paid a lot of prices for a civil rule to return to the country in 1999. This is why we cannot fold our arms and watch as anti-democratic elements, who appear to be hell-bent on truncating the present democratic experiment to have their way,” Ajayi said.
The statement further called on politicians to guard against inciting statements, saying, “When and where you win, be magnanimous. In the same vein, where and when you lose, be calm and accept it as your fate. ‘You lose some and gain some’ to quote a common cliché.”
While urging youth not to allow themselves to be lured into what may plunge the country into anarchy, the apex Yoruba group said: “Let this electoral process be successfully concluded so that we can have a smooth transfer of power on May 29 this year.”
Davis
In a related reaction, Chairman Naija 4BAT Otunba Abimbola Davis, cautioned the former president against commenting on the electoral process in Nigeria.
In a statement in Ibadan Tuesday, Davis accused the former president of not being credible enough to comment on electoral process in the country.
“Obasanjo that should be seen as a statesman is partisan; he adopted Peter Obi as his candidate and publicly campaigned for him. Perhaps it could be very painful to lose your ward in such an election, which Obasanjo did. It is only when you know you’re losing that a politician makes such a statement,” he said.
Otunba Davis added: “So what is behind Baba’s statement? Was it that Obasanjo has gotten an intelligent report on what is going to happen?
“It is worthy of note that the President and his party (APC) lost in Katsina, Tinubu lost in Lagos state and another APC state which is Yobe was lost to the opposition and Gov. Ganduje also lost in Kano state and as a matter of fact lost Osun which is a Yoruba state, yet Tinubu and his team did not complain of rigging or call for cancellation. So what is behind Baba’s statement, who is calling for chaos?”
He said the timing of “when Obasanjo made the statement was quite terrible, because he’s actually inciting people against the system,” adding, “such statements shouldn’t have been made during election, especially when the elections are being counted.”
