The minister accused Obi and his running mate, Baba Datti-Ahmed, of treason going by their comments about the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, wasted Nigeria’s money to travel to Washington DC in the United State of America and London, UK to announce his alleged treasonable offence while he (Obi) was in Onitsha, Anambra state in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News on Monday, the former governor of Anambra State said that while he was sure that there are many places in the minister’s village where children don’t have desks in their schools or classrooms to go to school, Mohammed wasted money that is enough to build a block of six classrooms in a primary school to travel to Washington and London to accuse him of treasonable offence.
Recall that in April, SaharaReporters reported that while speaking for the Nigerian government during his official engagement with some international media organisations, the minister accused Obi and his running mate, Baba Datti-Ahmed, of treason going by their comments about the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
He said that Obi’s comments on the just concluded general elections showed he (Obi) was acting like “a desperate person; he is not a democrat that he claimed to be,” and then cautioned Obi from inciting people to violence over the outcome of the Presidential elections.
Mohammed further stated that it was wrong for Obi to seek redress in court over the election results while inciting people to violence in another.
But speaking on the minister’s April outing in Washington, Obi described it as “the height of rascality.”
Speaking further, Obi said, “It was even announced in Washington DC. I committed a treasonable offence and I’m in Onitsha and my Minister went to announce it in Washington.
“This is what I’m talking about waste in governance but people don’t understand. The amount it cost Nigeria for him to go and announce that in Washington can build a block of six classrooms in a primary school.
“I’m sure if you go to his village, there are so many places where children don’t even have desks or classrooms to go to school and instead of using that money to and do it, he used that money to go to Washington to announce of treason of somebody who is in Onitsha.
“He doesn't need to do that. It is a rascality of the highest order. That is the reason why we want a new Nigeria where things work the way it work in other climes.
“From there he went to London announcing the same thing while I’m in Nigeria. He should have come to see me or invite me and say this is the offence.”