The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate democracy in the country with his utterances and actions.
The government made this call while reacting to the ex-President who on Monday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Mahmood Yakubu to stop the ongoing collation and announcement of results.
Obasanjo in a letter titled, ‘An appeal for caution and rectification,’ released on Monday, alleged that some politicians had compromised electoral officials to make the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System machines redundant, adding that danger is lurking around the country over the alleged compromise of the electoral process.
However, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a response described the ex-president’s statement on the polls as inciting, self-serving and provocative.
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Mohammed in a statement by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi, said the former President’s call on Buhari to prevail on the INEC chairman to stop the collation process was nothing ‘but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process.’
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.
‘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 alleged that Obasanjo, 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 added, ‘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 aspersions 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.’
Instead of calling for the cancellation of the election, the FG counseled those aggrieved by the election result to seek redress in the courts.
‘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,’ the minister said.
Joining the fray, ex-Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, (retd.) called on the President to ignore Obasanjo’s call for the suspension of the results collation exercise.
Akinrinade said Obasanjo was not neutral in the election, having endorsed the LP candidate, Peter Obi, noting that his intervention thus “falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that is already the constitutional responsibility of INEC.”
But about 30 Christian clerics under the aegis of Nigeria Christian Elders Coalition on Tuesday called on INEC to suspend the collation of the results of the presidential election to avoid another political logjam.
According to them, the country is being dragged to a worsening pariah status because of the deliberate failure of INEC to comply with its own regulation and the Electoral Act.