Published 8th Apr, 2023

By Daniel Ojukwu

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, on Wednesday, accused Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, and Datti Ahmed, his deputy, of treason.

Speaking with journalists in Washington DC, United States, Mohammed said the actions of the candidates showed desperation.

He said, “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.

“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.”

FIJ has now found instances where the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the party Mohammed is a member of, threatened to form a parallel government, in violation of Section 37 of the Criminal Code.

This code reads, “Any person who levies war against the State, in order to intimidate or overawe the President or the Governor of a State, is guilty of treason, and is liable to the punishment of death.”

APC CHAIRMAN, ODIGIE THREATENS PARALLEL GOVERNMENT IN 2014

In the build up to the 2015 general election, the APC was the main opposition party, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party.

With election malpractice a recurring theme in Nigeria’s elections, the APC issued a warning to the PDP, saying it would form a parallel government if the PDP rigged the election.

John Odigie-Oyegun, while serving as the party’s chairman at the time, issued this warning on August 5, 2014.

He said, “Let those who have ears hear that they should not tamper with a single vote that belongs to us. The battle line is already drawn. The APC will not allow its mandate to be stolen. After the Ekiti State, there can be no more opportunity for anybody to steal our mandate. Enough is enough.

“The APC is prepared for a free and fair election. If anyone steals our mandate on February 20, 2015, we will resist it and set up a people’s government. Let them be warned, there would be dire consequences for this.”

CURRENT VICE PRESIDENT OSINBAJO DEFENDED THIS STATEMENT AFTERWARDS

In an interview on Channels TV after that statement, Yemi Osinbajo, the vice-presidential candidate of the APC at the time, defended the party and his chairman.

Osinbajo, a professor of law, reacting to questions posed by by Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloye, said the statement could not necessarily be inciting.

He said, “I don’t think so. I don’t think it is inciting. Why is that inciting? There is nothing that incites about that.”

Asked if the call for a parallel government could lead to anarchy, Osinbajo said, “Not necessarily. Look at cases in our political history where the government decide that they are going to ignore the wishes of the electorate and simply override the wishes of the electorate. What the opposition has simply done is to reject the results of the elections and say that they will constitute their own government.

“That is simply a way of taking a stand against the government and putting the government under pressure. That has happened in several places in Africa, several places in the world, where people have said on account of electoral injustice, they are going to do certain things. So long as they don’t call anyone to violence, all they are saying is we are going to constitute ourselves into a government if you are unjust or you ignore the wishes of the electorate. Personally, I don’t think that is inciting.”

The threat of a parallel government was not ignored by the ruling government at the time, as in April 2015, the Goodluck Jonathan presidency reacted to the formation of a steering committee by the APC.

The presidency warned the APC and then president-elect Muhammadu Buhari not to form a parallel government as they were still in charge.

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