• Ignore insincere, ill-motivated advise, Bamidele, Bajowa urge Nigerians
The Federal Government has cautioned former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections, following a recent letter he wrote concerning the polls .
In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, 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.
According to The Guardian, Mohammed said although Obasanjo masqueraded as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, he is, in reality, a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters.
The minister expressed shock and disbelief that a former President could throw around unverified claims and amplify wild allegations picked up from the street against the electoral process.
He said the former President, in his time, organised, perhaps, the worst election since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, hence he is the least qualified to advise a President whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent election is well acknowledged within and outside Nigeria.
He said: “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 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. ”
The minister reminded the former President that organising elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat.
According to him, “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.”
Also, a retired General in the Nigerian Army, Olu Bajowa, advised President Muhammadu Buhari “not to be deterred by anti-democratic voices making the rounds and not be swayed, deceived or persuaded to allow anyone destroy his worthy legacy of excellent service to our great nation.”
In a letter, in reaction to Obasanjo’s correspondence, Bajowa said: “It is very sad, most disheartening and grossly unexpected that a man of the calibre of a former military Head of State and two-time civilian President, General Olusegun Obasanjo, could contemplate anything that could truncate Nigeria’s democratic process at this very crucial stage.”
He said: “Without any attempt to undermine Obasanjo, I believe that his intentions on the 2023 electoral process are far from being sincere, given the fact that he openly endorsed a particular candidate, who, incidentally, is not leading the polls, as already announced by INEC.
“As the saying goes, ‘he who must come to equity must come with clean hands’. Hence, it is obvious that having endorsed a candidate, Obasanjo’s hands are not clean in this instance, and he lacks the moral right to come to equity.”
Bajowa argued: The official release of results, so far, showed that President Buhari lost Katsina, Bola Tinubu lost Lagos, El-Rufai lost Kaduna, Ganduje lost Kano, Lalong lost Plateau. All these states are strongholds of the ruling political party! How else can a process be free, fair, and transparent?”
The retired General called on “all well-meaning Nigerians across political parties, tribes and religion to rise and condemn any attempt by any persons of sinister motives, to create problems for our country, leading to anarchy that could endanger peace, unity, and stability, and even disintegration of the country.”
He added: “Nigeria is not a lawless country. The Constitution is clear on who should conduct elections, and there are provisions for review on irregularities. The law does not make any provision for unilateral cancellation or annulment of election results. Such move is totally wrong, undemocratic, unacceptable, and unconstitutional.”
Similarly, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, urged Nigerians to disregard the ill-motivated advice by Obasanjo.
In a statement issued by his media office, yesterday, Bamidele said the sudden call on INEC to cancel the presidential elections and halt ongoing collation of results is a deliberate attempt to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.
He said: “Obasanjo’s unsolicited reactionary posturing on the just-concluded presidential election is characteristic of his anti-democratic and subversive tendencies which he had displayed on several occasions over the years.
“This is the same Obasanjo who publicly adopted Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, and urged Nigerians to vote for him. Unfortunately, Peter Obi lost woefully in the polling unit, right in front of his (Obasanjo’s) house in Abeokuta.
“Apparently, Obasanjo is jittery because of the outcome of the election, which invariably may not be in the favour of his adopted candidate. He is a bad loser.”
Bamidele said it is ridiculous and highly disheartening for Obasanjo to question the credibility of an election where many sitting governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives failed to win National Assembly elections in their respective states and where the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress did not win in Lagos State, his political stronghold.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians and lovers of democracy not to keep silent in the face of Obasanjo’s letter, urging them to rise up to defend the sanctity of Nigeria’s democracy and the constitutionality of the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.
He added that Nigerians must condemn the unjust, undignified, undemocratic and unpopular interjection of Obasanjo in the ongoing electoral process.
Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had joined voices condemning the conduct of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections for allegedly failing credibility and transparency test.
In a letter titled “An Appeal For Caution And Rectification”, addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, he highlighted some of the alleged irregularities that have characterized the electoral exercise.
He said the election, which he said has been marred by violence, disenfranchisement, voter intimidation and result manipulation among others, is being conducted by allegedly corrupt officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who allegedly took bribe to rig the election for politicians.
According to him, the election process has been corrupted and most of the results that are brought outside the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and Server are not true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice.
The former president said 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.
Obasanjo, a former Military Head of State, who became a democratically elected president following Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 and led the country for eight years as civilian leader, said Buhari and the INEC Chairman Mamood Yakubu need to act to save the country from implosion.
He asked Buhari to cancel all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test and have them brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023, and have their BVAS and Server officials changed.
Following is his full statement:
“Nigerian Brothers and Sisters, greetings to you all.
“I am constrained to speak at this point
“I crave the indulgence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari, to make this statement because I have had the opportunity to keep him aware of what I know is happening and the danger looming ahead.
“On many occasions in the past, I have not hesitated to point out lacuna in the actions of the President and his government. But as far as the election issues are concerned, the President has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he will want to leave a legacy of free, fair transparent and credible elections.
“Until last Saturday night, February 25, 2023, the good and noble plan and preparation for the elections 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 the 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. At this stage, we do not need wittingly or unwittingly to set this country on fire with the greed, irresponsibility and unpatriotic acts of those who allegedly gave money to INEC officials for perversion and those who collected the blood money.
“Let me appeal to the Chairman of INEC, if his hands are clean, to save Nigeria from the looming danger and disaster which is just waiting to happen.
If the Chairman can postpone elections four days to the election, he can do everything to rectify the errors of the last two days: no BVAS, no result to be acceptable; and no upload through Server, no result to be acceptable.
“Where BVAS and Servers have been manipulated or rendered inactive, such results must be declared void and inadmissible for election declaration.
“Chairman INEC, I have thought that you would use this opportunity to mend your reputation and character for posterity.
“Your Excellency, President Buhari Muhammadu, tension is building up and please let all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled and be brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023, and BVAS and Server officials be changed. “To know which stations or polling units were manipulated, let a Committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday. Mr. President, may your plan and hope for leaving a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible election be realized.
“Mr. President, please don’t let anybody say to you that it does not matter or it is the problem of INEC. On no account should you be seen as part of the collusion or compromise. When the die is cast, it will be your problem and that of the nation. The Chairman of INEC may sneak out of the country or go back to his ivory tower. Your Excellency, thank you for hearing me out.
“Compatriot Nigerians, please exercise patience until the wrong is righted. I strongly believe that nobody will toy with the future and fortune of Nigeria at this juncture.
“Long live Nigeria in peace, security, stability and in the hope for a greater future.”
