A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has said that the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, won the February 25 presidential election and not Bola Tinubu, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Lawal made the declaration in a statement on Tuesday.
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According to him, available factual data, as aggregated from several independent sources, indicated that Obi got the majority of votes while Atiku came in second in the election. He claims Tinubu came in a distant third in the number of votes scored.
Lawal said he had resisted the temptation to engage in contemporary political discourse since the election because he needed time to analyze and digest the data that led to the outcome(s), and because the rainy season had just set in, he needed to focus on his farms.
He added that the current topical issues for political discourse and inquiry were whether or not Bola Tinubu won the presidential election and/or whether he was, apriori, qualified to participate in the election given his murky biodata, which is now being publicly unveiled daily in an avalanche.
Lawal said his answer to the first inquiry was that regardless of whatever INEC or Appeal Court said or did, Bola did not win the election.
According to him, right from the start of the campaigns, Tinubu knew he would not win the election in a free and fair contest, so he decided to go by all means.
Lawal said his answer to the second inquiry was that given the now unfolding deluge of uncomplimentary information about who or what Tinubu actually is, ordinarily, sound ethics and morality should have convinced him to voluntarily excuse himself from participation in the election.
However, Lawal said that he believed Tinubu still had time and opportunity to save himself from public humiliation and embarrassment to his person, both locally and internationally, by resigning so that he could give more attention to his health.
He said, “Leadership is all about integrity, a sound pedigree, trustworthiness, and the ability to unite and instill hope and confidence in the people one seeks to lead. In these qualities, most Nigerians are in total agreement that Bola has them in very short supply indeed.
“But now, six months down the line, the chicken has come home to roost as Nigerians have come to the realization that we have not gotten what we deserved politically.
“Confusion and despondency are now all over the nation, as no one trusts the government to do what it says it will do. No one trusts the leader, and no one trusts appointees who are appointed as rewards for their roles in the election or who have in the past helped him in his life.
“Bola, the President, and his group are now in government and in full control of Nigeria’s vast resources and opportunities. They are enjoying their offices while Nigerians languish in insecurity, poverty, and hopelessness.
“During the campaign, Bola mouthed some platitudes about competence, but we have yet to see it reflected in his political appointments. It seems more like he is rewarding people who supported him to get the presidency at all costs.
“This band of appointees that Bola is assembling into his government doesn’t care about Nigeria at all.
“Fuel prices will continue to gallop upwards until only they can afford it; the naira will continue to race downhill in a free-fall until only they can afford anything in the market; insecurity will continue its escalation until every community in the nation is consumed by it.
“Just to mention a few of these appointees: Take insecurity, for example. What do you expect an accountant to do as Minister of Defense?
“Was he not that one who was governor while Bello Turji et al. freely terrorized Zamfara State? What about his CBN Governor with a CV, a one-time chairman of a little-known bank employing 300 people in less than 12 branches clustered in the South and South East regions?
“Is there any doubt left as to his lack of qualification and experience for the job other than that his first policy statement was to remove foreign exchange restrictions for the importation of 43 agricultural and related products?
“Certainly, Nigerians are in for a short time. The people running the government do not care a hoot about the Nigerian people; their cronies are the petroleum industry players, while some are the banking system players, so a free fall of the Naira and an unregulated upward movement of oil prices both work for them.
“By the way, has anyone noticed the intolerance for free speech and dictatorship that is creeping upon us? Has anyone noticed the actions of the National Broadcasting Commission of late?”