Don’t Set Nigeria On Fire Because Your Candidate Is Losing, Group Tells

—Calls For Continuous Collation Of Votes, Respect For The Election Outcome

A youth group, Youths for Stable Democracy (YSD) has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of an insidious attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2023 presidential elections over fears that his preferred candidate and ‘puppet’, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), is certain to lose the contest.

The group made the allegation in a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Coordinator, Barrister Chinyere Nwadike.

Reacting to Obasanjo’s call to President Buhari to halt the ongoing collation of votes, YSD warned the former leader against inciting comments aimed at overthrowing the popular choice of the people, adding that Nigeria was not created to satisfy his obsessive desire for control and unchecked powers.

The statement reads, “Our appeal to President Olusegun Obasanjo is for him to refrain from dangerous actions capable of undermining the peace and stability of the country.”

“Nigerians made their choice on Saturday, Feb 25, and INEC must be allowed to reveal that choice without unhelpful meddling and reckless incitements from entitled individuals who regard Nigeria as a private possession that they can order in any direction that pleases them.

“It is irresponsible and unstatesmanlike to sow doubts about the credibility of an election because the outcome doesn’t reflect your personal wish.

“If President Obasanjo has struck an agreement with a candidate in the race to fulfil his third-term agenda through him, then he must be reminded that Nigerians are not a party to the unholy matrimony, and are thus free to choose a different path.

“We cannot suspend or dishonour the sacred process of declaring the electoral wishes of millions of Nigerians because one man who has refused to come to terms with the fact that he is a tired horse and spent force is upset that his personal, self-serving wish has been ignored.

“When our founding fathers fought for the country’s independence and chose the high road of self-government formed through peaceful and transparent elections, they didn’t do so to create an entity continuously beholden to the obsessive desires of some persons for control and unchecked powers.

“On the contrary, they adopted and deepened the popular acceptance of the democratic processes to curb such tendencies and ensure that unprincipled actors, when they do emerge, are ultimately defeated and consigned to history as was done in the years leading to the 2007 general elections when a president attempted to illegally elongate his rule by perverting the constitution and corrupting institutions.

“We will not receive lectures on credible elections from people who masterminded the dark years of Nigeria’s democracy when elections were regarded a ‘do or die’ affair and ballots were delivered to the private residence of party warlords who inked and sent them back for counting.

“Nigeria has, fortunately, evolved from that low point, and we need no constant reminder of that era, either through unsolicited letters or interference in important processes.

“We call on international bodies, security agencies and other relevant actors to play their part in defending Nigeria’s democracy by providing the support INEC needs to complete its constitutional and sensitive role of revealing the people’s poll decision. Collation must continue and the winner must be announced.”