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The Labour Party has strongly criticized Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka for his comments, in which he accused the party of trying to mislead the Nigerian public by suggesting that their presidential candidate, Peter Obi, emerged victorious in the February 25 election.
On Wednesday, Soyinka reportedly stated that the LP was well aware that Obi had secured the third position in the fiercely contested election. However, they continued to propagate ‘Gbajue’ (misinformation) among Nigerians, particularly the younger generation, in an attempt to deceive them.
PRESS RELEASE FROM LABOUR PARTY*
— LabourPartyNG (@NgLabour) September 14, 2023
SOYINKA: Statesmen Are Not Double Faced, Not Blind To Truth
The Labour Party took note of the statement that emanated from the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka who as an institution we have the utmost respect for.https://t.co/jMINpBKv69 pic.twitter.com/GaO5OIrYvj
“We will not attribute selective amnesia as the reason for Soyinka’s erroneous prognosis, but we would have expected him to exhibit statesmanship qualities, as we initially believed he possessed. This entails exercising caution and refraining from displaying a dual character that may suggest he is influenced by chauvinistic tendencies,” the statement read.
“However, we acknowledge that Soyinka resides in Lagos State and was in Nigeria on February 25 during the elections. It was during this time that he witnessed, possibly with satisfaction, an incident in Lagos where a certain individual warned non-indigenes to vote for a particular political party or face potential deportation to their birthplace. Notably, he did not condemn this act.
“Furthermore, he was present when ballot boxes were brazenly snatched by thugs at a polling booth located right in front of his residence, and yet he did not condemn this event either. We are still searching for any instance where he publicly voiced his disapproval of the unprovoked attacks on our supporters in Lagos by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, during the last elections.”
