Soyinka insisted that Obi did not win the poll and that the ballot tally accurately reflected what happens when a political party splits itself in two.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and that of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, already lost the election before voting started on February 25.
Soyinka stated this in a press release on Saturday following uproar over his statement at a South African event held in his honour on Wednesday.
The renowned playwright had accused the Labour Party of telling lies to Nigerians that Mr Obi won the election.
In his statement, Soyinka insisted that Obi did not win the poll and that the ballot tally accurately reflected what happens when a political party splits itself in two, especially close to an election, referring to Obi’s departure from the PDP, among others, which is believed to have seen PDP votes shared with the LP.
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Soyinka said, “The mistake we all continue to make is our insistence on regarding the recent Nigerian elections as an adversarial thriller. The contrary is the truth. The ballot tally accurately reflected what happens when a political party splits itself in two, especially so critically close to an election. What promised to be a spectacular contest is transformed into a Feast of Voluntary Donation of the spoils of war.
“That, however, is not always the ultimate destination – the re-gifting may continue, prodded by a sudden surge of regret. There remains, lurking in the background, a far more potent beneficiary. In this case, we easily recall it as the unregistered but loudly canvassed IPP – the Interim Peoples Party, usually to be found in bed with the military. The notorious Datti interview, menacing, intimidating and unambiguous, sets the scene for such re-entry. Then, history repeats itself over and over again, as currently manifested along the West African sub-region. The ‘call to arms’ is made literal by those whose trade is precisely that of arms.
“Barring such abrupt ‘patriotic intervention’, however, the last word belongs to the Supreme Court. Until that conclusive hour, wherever and whenever the subject turns to the Nigerian elections, my contribution can be taken for granted in advance: Peter Obi did not win the Nigerian 2023 elections. Jointly with his erstwhile colleague of the PDP, Abubakar Atiku, they donated the outcome, even before the voting.
“Let politicians and their cohorts learn to take responsibility for the consequences of their choices within democratic options.”
