Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, says he did not do anything wrong by accusing Labour Party’s Peter Obi of treason.
The Minister had accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed of treason after a comment attributed to Datti.
According to Nigeria’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, the duo has been inciting people to violence.
Mr Obi and his running mate contested the February 25 presidential election which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, won.
However, they have refused to accept Mr Tinubu’s victory and they have filed a petition against the election process and results.
On March 22, Baba-Ahmed, LP vice-presidential candidate, said on national television that Mr Tinubu, the president-elect, did not meet the constitutional requirements to become Nigeria’s president.
He said Tinubu failed to fulfill the stipulated requirements and asked the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) not to swear him in as president.
Mohammed In Washington
During an interaction in Washington, Mr. Mohammed accused the LP candidates of inciting violence.
He also described their actions and statements ‘treasonable’ and accused them of threatening Nigerians.
Days after the Minister made that statement, he got a response from Edwin Clark, an Ijaw national leader and convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
See: How To Register For UTME In Nigeria
According to Mr Clark, Mr. Mohammed should be prosecuted for being a “mastermind and disseminator of fake news” against Obi
Clark accuses the minister of basing his comment on “propaganda and falsity” adding that it is “unpatriotic and wicked” to label such an accusation on Obi.
‘No Fake News’
However, Mr Mohammed, says there is no fake news in his comment against Mr Obi.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the minister made the assertion on Wednesday in London.
Replying to the PANDEF leader, Mohammed said his remarks are devoid of falsehood.
Also, he insists that LP is “heating the polity” simply because the party lost an election.
“What will be my offence?
“Is it by chiding the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party who said on live television that if the President-elect Bola Tinubu is sworn-in on May 29 that that would be the end of democracy in Nigeria?” the minister queries.
“Is it for chiding him for saying that swearing in Tinubu on May 29 is like swearing in the military?
“What is the fake news in that?
“The position of the law is clear that anybody who is aggrieved over election results should go to court.
“It is not to start threatening Nigerians and heating the polity simply because you lost an election,” says Mr Mohammed.
He insists that he has done nothing to deserve prosecution as suggested by Mr Clark.
