Obasanjo
Conscience of the Yoruba, a socio cultural group in the South West geo- political zone has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to abort the peoples will again as demonstrated in last Saturdays election.
In a statement by Abagun Kole Omololu,the group drew attention to statement credited to the former President calling for the cancellation of the election asking him to perish the thought.
Full statement below:
Our attention was drawn to the February 27, 2023 statement of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo about the 2023 presidential election. In his two-page statement,
Obasanjo called for the cancellation of some election results that failed credibility and
transparency tests. With a sense of responsibility, we, in the Conscience of the Yoruba
Nation, asked Chief Obasanjo to perish that thought.
In a similar intervention too, former Head of State and Chairman of National Peace
Committee, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar challenged the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to pay attention to irregularities and malpractices that allegedly
characterised the 2023 president election.
We receive the statements of the two elder statesmen with utter disappointment,
especially at a time when all Nigerians – at home and in the diaspora – are anxiously
awaiting the outcome of the process, which different foreign observation missions have
relatively adjudged credible and transparent.
Specifically, Obasanjo’s statement is nothing, but a call for undue interference in the
constitutional responsibilities of the INEC. Under the 1999 Constitution and 2022
Electoral Act, the election process is clear. The laws give INEC the exclusive power to
perform its functions without interference from any person, institution or any arm of
government.
INEC was still preoccupied with its responsibilities when Obasanjo called for the
cancellation of the process. We seriously take exception to this position, which we
strongly believe, is antithetical to the peripheral, strategic and vital interests of Nigeria.
It is on record that Obasanjo conducted the election that produced former President
Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007. The process was then adjudged the worst election in the recent
history of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari, who then contested the election on the
platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, was a victim of that process. He never
cancelled the process even when it suffered all the yardsticks of a credible and
transparent process.
Contrarily, international observers are witnesses to the ongoing process. For instance,
Commonwealth Observer Group under the chairmanship of former South African
President Thabo Mbeki has rated it “largely peaceful” despite administrative and logistics
hurdles at many polling units. Likewise, ECOWAS Observation Mission described the elections as generally peaceful and transparent.
As observed in the election results declared, the use of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation
System has brought credibility into the process. With BVAS, APC lost Lagos, the home
state of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to LP. Nobody complained about it. With BVAS,
APC also lost Katsina, the home of President Muhammadu Buhari, to PDP. For them, it
is all well.
What else does Obasanjo want? He is partisan in this process. He endorsed the
presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi. He, therefore, lacks moral authority
to provide guidance for the electoral regulatory institution. If his candidate loses the
election, he should accept in good faith and join hands with the new president-elect to
move Nigeria forward.
The collation of election results is still ongoing. INEC should be allowed, even
encouraged, to continue with the process. We, therefore, stand by INEC to conclude the
process in line with its mandate. We also challenge the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to declare any candidate that satisfies the requirements of the 1999
Constitution winner of the process to avoid another June 12 dilemma or any political
contradiction that can truncate our democracy.
Even though the process is not entirely credible, the solution is not to throw away the
baby with bath’s water. Rather than resorting to extra-legal measures that can lead us to
the regrettable path of people’s aborted mandate as witnessed after the June 12, 1993
election, we urge any aggrieved candidate to seek redress in the Election Petition
Tribunal in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and 2022 Electoral Act.
Abagun Kole Omololu,
Director General,
Conscience of the Yoruba Nation.
February 28, 2023
