Lagos, Feb. 28, 2023 – Gen. Olu Bajowa, a former military leader, on Tuesday said former President Olusegun Obasanjo was trying to truncate democracy in Nigeria by his statement on the presidential election.
In a statement in Lagos, Bajowa said Obasanjo’s call for cancellation of the presidential results was most disheartening and grossly unexpected.
Bajowa said that having endorsed Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Obasanjo lacked the moral right to comment as an interested party.
He said the results so far declared had shown who the winner would be and called on well-meaning Nigerians not to be distracted.
“General Obasanjo was the one who gave me orders to go to the war front in 1967 to fight the legendary Ore Battle “to keep Nigeria One”.
“Without any attempt to undermine General 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, General Obasanjo’s hands are not clean in this instance, and he lacks the moral right to come to equity.
“I advise President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, not to be deterred by the anti-democratic voices making the rounds and not be swayed, deceived, or persuaded to allow anyone to destroy his worthy legacy of excellent service to our great nation.
“A quick glance at the results announced so far by INEC, paint a clear picture of the direction to which the voice of the people is tilted.
“There are several upsets which only a free and fair process could have produced.
“For instance, 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?
“I call on all well-meaning Nigerians across political parties, tribes, and religion to rise and condemn any attempt by any person of sinister motives to create problems for our country, leading to anarchy that could endanger peace, unity, and stability of Nigeria, and even the disintegration of the country.
“Nigeria is not a lawless country. The constitution is clear on who should conduct elections, and there are provisions for review on irregularities, punishment for infractions, and aggrieved parties to seek redress through the legal process.
“In fact, the law does not make any provision for unilateral cancellation or annulment of election results. Such move is totally wrong, undemocratic, unacceptable, and unconstitutional,” Bajowa said. (GBN)
