The Federal Government has asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his ‘’inciting, self-serving and provocative letter” on the elections held last Saturday, February 25.
The Federal Government has asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his ‘’inciting, self-serving and provocative letter” on the elections held last Saturday, February 25.
In an open letter addressed to President Buhari on Monday, February 27, Obasanjo raised concerns over the discrepancies in last Saturday, February 25 elections. He stated that there are allegations of some INEC officials being compromised and paid to do what they are not supposed to do. He said to avoid causing uproar in the country, the right thing must be done. He suggested that in areas were the elections were flawed, a repeat should be conducted on March 7.
Reacting to his letter, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement released, 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 wilful incitement to violence.
“Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is a known partisan bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters” Mohammed said
The Minister 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. He accused the former President of organizing “perhaps the worst elections” since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, during his tenure, adding that 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.”
“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.”
