Soyinka during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday condemned Baba-Ahmed’s statement in an interview in which he said the judgement of the Supreme Court must favour his party.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has said an attempt made by the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed to dictate to the Supreme Court regarding the party’s suit challenging the presidential election is unacceptable.
Soyinka during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday condemned Baba-Ahmed’s statement in an interview in which he said the judgement of the Supreme Court must favour his party.
Baba-Ahmed during an interview on Channels TV on Thursday, March 23, 2023, said Section 134 of the constitution stipulates that the winner of the presidential election must score the highest number of votes and at least 25 per cent each in two-thirds of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Baba-Ahmed also argued that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, who was declared as the ‘President-elect’ did not satisfy the requirement to be declared ‘President-elect,’ stating categorically that there was no president-elect for Nigeria yet because the declared failed to get 25 per cent of the votes in the FCT.
When asked what part of Baba-Ahmed’s statement was unbecoming, Soyinka said, “Nearly the totality, listen, the interviewer asked him several times; he said ‘what will you do if the Supreme Court judgement is against you, if the interpretation which you are offering about the constitutional aspect of this election, if it is against that of the Supreme Court.’”
Soyinka noted that Baba-Ahmed kept saying, “No, it is not even open to analysis because the word says ‘and’ and it’s very clear and the Supreme Court in its wisdom had better give this. In other words, his interpretation.
“This is trying to dictate to the Supreme arbiter of the nation. Whatever you think of the Supreme Court, it is an institution which we all revert to sooner or later. If not today, then tomorrow; if not about this election, maybe about the next election but Datti kept saying ‘No, the Supreme Court has got in its wisdom to agree with me.
“That is what is known as fascistic language. It is not acceptable and for me, it alienates people, it alienates even supporters, I know this for a fact. You know I relate to young people.
“I relate to those who have found certain problems with the spokespeople of this particular movement. I’m not interested in the other ones; everybody knows the other movements. But there is a new boy on the block as the expression says and many of us had been waiting for that new kid on the block. And so, we have a stake in it. And wherever it seems to be going wrong, we are going to tell the truth to that new kid.
“But go and watch that tape all over again, introduce that tape to any kind of neutral jury, members of whom don’t even know anything about the Nigerian situation; talk about body language, talk about vocal language, talk about the actual text of Datti’s pronouncement; this is intimidation and it is not acceptable. I refuse to be part of that kind of language.”
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