By Ovie Okpare
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has written to the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) demanding for the invitation and arrest of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and his vice, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), accused Obi and Baba-Ahmed of making inciting statements capable of causing insurrection against the Nigerian Government and President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
In the letter dated Thursday March 23, 2023, Keyamo further accused duo of allegedly camping some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages on social media to cause panic in the country.
The letter which the Uvwie-born lawyer and politician wrote in his personal capacity as Nigeria demanded for the arrest and investigation of the Labour Party candidates for possible prosecution.
The minister noted that if such reckless statements by both Obi and his running mate on national televisions were not checked, it could cause apprehension and throw the entire nation into unrest.
A copy of the letter made available to NIGER DELTA TODAY, the learned silk stated “I write this petition with the full realisation that in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to sooth frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process. The President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a statement to this effect a few days ago.
“However, it appears the President and Vice-Presidential Candidates of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances. In this regard, since the declaration of the Presidential election results, they have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution. In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government.
“The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr. Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023, it would “signal the end of democracy”. Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as “unconstitutional” and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023.
“I also have it on good authority that Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages everyday on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and social unrest.
“It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted Elections Petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances. These conducts and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister and it is important you rein them in NOW!
“In the circumstance, I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals to court for their conducts which amount to incitement and treasonable felony”, Keyamo’s letter read.
Why is Festus afraid. He too should be calm. In fact, in my widest imagination, I never believe Mr. Kayemo can support this mess in the name of politics. A man that made so much noise during the previous regimes. It all shows that because he had no stake, hence he was criticizing those government in power. Now that he has started eating in the corrupt practices, he does not see anything wrong in the evils perpetuated by APC in Nigeria. He should be ashamed and stop harassing Obi and Datti, because they have the right to express themselves as Nigerians.