Osinbajo said in 2014: “Look at cases where the government decided that they were going to ignore the electorates’ wishes and simply override them. What the opposition has usually done in those cases is to reject the result of the election, and say that they would constitute their own government. That is simply a way of taking a stand against the government, and putting the government under pressure.”
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo once justified that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would form a parallel government if they were denied their victory in the 2015 presidential election, according to two throwback videos, now viral on social media.
The videos emerged after Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, accused the Labour Party presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, of treason.
Mohammed had said during a media tour to the US: “Obi and his Vice, Datti Ahmed, cannot be threatening Nigerians that if the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is sworn in on May 29, it will be the end of democracy in Nigeria. This is treason. You cannot be inviting insurrection, and this is what they are doing.”
The original threat that the APC would form a parallel government if they were robbed of victory in 2015, was made by the then National Chairman of the APC, Odigie John Oyegun.
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Osinbajo, while featuring as a guest on Channels Television in 2014, said there was nothing wrong in forming a parallel government.
Seun Okinbaloye, who anchored the interview, asked Osinbajo whether the formation of a parallel government would not be a call to anarchy. Osinbajo disagreed: “Let’s look at political history. Look at cases where the government decided that they were going to ignore the wishes of the electorates and simply override the wishes of the electorates. What the opposition has usually done in those cases is to reject the result of the election, and to say that they would constitute their own government. That is simply a way of taking a stand against the government, and putting the government under pressure.”
