The federal government has said the refusal of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to condemn Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mates, over the latter’s controversial comments means he supports them.
On March 22, Datti said Nigeria has no
president-elect despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
announcing Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of
the election.
The LP vice-presidential candidate said
Tinubu would be leading an unconstitutional government if sworn into office,
adding that the APC candidate “has not met requirements of the law”.
Speaking with state house correspondents on
Wednesday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said nobody has the right to
call for insurrection in the country.
He said Datti spoke on behalf of Obi and the
Labour Party and Obi has not corrected him.
“I said Obi has every right to seek redress
in court like Labour Party but nobody has the right to call for insurrection or
to threaten to say that if the president-elect is sworn-in, that would be the
end of democracy,” Lai said.
“And that was precisely what Obi’s running
mate said on live television and I have not heard Obi rein him in or correct
him; so, if your running mate says something; of course, he was saying it on
behalf of the party and on behalf of the candidate.
“That is why I said that was treason; for
anybody to say that if a duly elected president in Nigeria is sworn in, that
will be the end of democracy is treason. For anybody to say if you swear in a
duly elected president, you are swearing in the military, it is treason.
“So, I don’t see anything controversial in
that.”
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