Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been warned by the Federal Government not to torpedo Nigeria’s democracy with his advocacy that the 2023 general elections should be cancelled. It called Obasanjo’s letter to th Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as “inciting, self-serving and provocative.”

The admonition is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.

The statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was made available to the media by Segun Adeyemi, his special assistant to the president (media) office of the minister.

According to Mohammed: “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.’’

The Minister argued that Obasanjo, when he was in the saddle, “organised perhaps the worst elections since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.”

“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 elections and a descent into anarchy.

“He used his time to cast aspersion 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,’’ he said.

Mohammed told Obasanjo further that organising “elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat, considering the fact that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country was 16,742,916 more than the total number of registered voters, at 76,726,092, in 14 West African nations put together.”

“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.

“They should 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,’’ he said.