Obasanjo not a moral guide, says Afenifere Renewal Group

Nigerian Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Yoruba Assembly yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ignore the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the cancellation of last Saturday’s presidential election.

Both groups warned the erstwhile President against undue interference in the constitutional responsibilities of the electoral agency as an independent agency under the law.

They said there should be no room for annulment, no basis for interim government and no reason to incite the military against the democratic process.

In a statement, titled: We Must Not Tread This Path Again, ARG Chairman Olawale Oshun, who reacted to Obasanjo’s tirade on the presidential election, said the former President always presented himself as the only Nigerian patriot whose views must hold sway all the time.

He said: “Whether in his intervention in the 1993 presidential elections that yielded MKO Abiola and in this particular instance of the yet-to-be concluded 2023 elections, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo lacks the moral right to serve as a guiding beacon.”

Oshun, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives in the Third Republic, described Obasanjo as a politically partisan Nigerian who cannot, at the same time, be pretending to be the father of the nation.

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He said: “We will be justified to impute motive and suggest that this 2023 attempt at wanting to render the elections inchoate as that of 1993 could just be that Gen. Obasanjo would want till his passing to remain the only Yoruba man to ever attain leadership of the country.”

Oshun recalled that Obasanjo’s hand was heavy in the institution of the failed 1993 Interim National Government (ING), a process that ultimately led to the restoration of the military, the coming of Gen. Sani Abacha regime and ultimately to the death of President-elect Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, Obasanjo’s townsman.

The statement reads: “We, speaking for Yoruba people, call for the completion of the 2023 electoral processes, starting with the already held national elections and ending with the state executive and legislative elections.

“If Gen. Obasanjo succeeded in intervening in the elections held under him, he should at least grant the present President the full prerogative of wishing to bequeath a free and fair election in our country. We pray he is able to do that to the end.

“We recognise, however, that more than ever before, Nigeria is at a crossroads and that whoever emerged of the candidates, has a great responsibility to set the ship of nationhood on the right path.

“We, as a people, call on the incoming government to set itself on the task of restoring unity of all the peoples of the country. This, however, has to be predicated on building a nation where all the diverse people are equitable members in the country. This can only be precipitated with a wholesome reform and Restructure of the Constitution of the country. We no longer can pretend that the 1999 Constitution can see or aid the peace, amity and development of the country. That Constitution cannot.

“For now, let the 2023 electoral processes be completed and any party or candidate can, as provided for in the Electoral Laws, seek justice in our courts. Whoever emerges, however, has great unifying tasks ahead, if Nigeria is to remain one.

“We also add that the military should completely steer clear of whatever temporary impasse that could occur as this is not unusual in all democracies. The military should also turn a deaf ear to any possible incitement, be it from retired Generals or their rank and file.

“The world has moved on and the Yoruba people will resist with other Nigerians, were any misguided intervention to take place in our polity.”

The Nation

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