Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has lambasted the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed for accusing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi of treason.
Recall that Mohammed had on Tuesday accused Obi and his running mate, Baba Datti-Ahmed, of committing treason going by their comments about the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
The minister made the accusation while speaking for President Muhammadu Buhari-led government in Washington DC, United States, during his official engagement with some international media organisations.
Mohammed said Obi’s comments on the 2023 general elections showed he (Obi) was acting like “a desperate person; he is not a democrat that he claimed to be.”
The minister stated that it was wrong for Obi to seek redress in court over the election results while inciting people to violence in another, and therefore cautioned the Labour Party candidates from inciting people to violence over the outcome of the presidential election.
“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.
“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 a democrat that he claimed to be. A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins election,” he said.
Reacting to the accusation, the former minister of education, Ezekwesili berated Mohammed, saying it is the height of “sophistry and thoughtless talk and abuse of power” for the minister to throw an accusation of treason on Obi while he has taken the right judicial processes to challenge the election outcome.
Ezekwesili said on her Twitter page, “It is the height of sophistry, thoughtless talk and abuse of power for the Minister of Information and Culture @FMICNigeria to throw accusation of Treason on Political Opponents who have taken the right Judicial Processes in contesting the result of an election. Stop it!
“Your @NigeriaGov @MBuhari conducted a fatally flawed election and instead of circumspection, you want to cower the citizens and your opponents who are aggrieved?
“What happened to Wisdom in knowing that this is the wrong moment to abuse your power of incumbency? Get wisdom now.
“Nonsense. No reasonable persons in the world ever wasted their time worrying about peddlers of false accusations. I think the Minister Lai Mohammed of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture @FMICNigeria is trying to outdo his APC colleagues in thoughtless talks.”