No one knows when the hearing on the petition contesting the result of the February 25 presidential election will commence, but everyone knows the president-elect would be sworn in on May 29.
The noticeable delay in the commencement of the hearing of the petition is gradually becoming a thing of concern.
That delay and other things have made one of the opposition parties raise alarm about how much effect a decision to swear-in the president-elect without a final court ruling on the petition would have on Nigeria’s democracy.
But the ruling party says that statement was inciting violence.
“Obi and his Vice, Datti Ahmed cannot be threatening Nigerians that if the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is sworn-in on May 29, it will be the end of democracy in Nigeria”
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi is being accused of inciting people to violence.
This is following the release of an audio reported to be a conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Ministry.
In the audio, Obi was heard mentioning that there was a religious war in Nigeria, directing it to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The APC presidential candidate who won the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu, and his Vice Kashim Shettima are Muslims.
However, Mr Obi says the audio is a deep fake done by the opposition APC.
Treason
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has warned Obi against inciting people to violence.
Mr Mohammed said this in Washington DC during his official engagements with some international media organisations.
It is wrong for Obi on one breadth to seek redress in court over the outcome of the polls and on another breadth incite people to violence, says the minister.
“This is treason. You cannot be inviting insurrection, and this is what they are doing.
“Obi’s statement is that of a desperate person, he is not the democrat that he claimed to be.
“A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins the election,” says Mr Mohammed.
No Chances Of Victory
The minister says Obi has no chance of winning the challenge against Mr Tinubu’s victory in court.
According to him, even Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can not win in court.
Mr Tinubu had won the election with Atiku Abubakar in second place and Mr Obi in third place.
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According to the minister, both Obi and Atiku failed to meet the constitutional requirements to be declared president.
“The constitution has stringent criteria for anybody who wants to be president of the country.
“Not only must he have the plurality of vote cast in an election, but he must also have scored one-quarter of votes cast in at least 25 states.
“Only the President-elect met the criteria by scoring 8.79 million votes and having one-quarter of all the vote cast in 29 states of the federation,” the minister states.
According to the minister, Atiku who came second with 6.9 million votes was only able to make one-quarter of the votes cast in 21 states.Obi came third with 5.8 million votes but won only one-quarter of the votes cast in 15 states, Mr Mohammed states.
“You cannot win an election in a poll where you came to a distant third position and failed to meet constitutional requirements.
“Peter Obi, while complaining of fraud has not disowned his victory in Lagos,” the information minister says.
Most Transparent Election
The minister also reveals the purpose of his trip to the United States.
According to him, he was there to correct the negative narratives being promoted by naysayers and opposition on the election.
He says the opposition, having lost in the election, was alleging fraud, calling for its cancellation and constitution of an interim government.
Also, Lai Mohammed says the just concluded election is the “fairest, most transparent and authentic” in Nigeria’s history.
