‘Your Call For Election Cancellation Unfortunate, Akinriade Fires Obasanjo

A former Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade, has condemned the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the cancellation of the 2023 presidential election.

In a statement on Tuesday, Akinriade said the cancellation of the presidential election could lead to political violence across the country, asking all democracy-loving Nigerians and those who care about the unity of this country to condemn the call.

Recall that Obasanjo, in a statement personally signed on Monday, stated that it is no secret that the results of last Saturday’s presidential election had been “doctored and manipulated.”

The former president said the Chairman of the Independent  National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, cannot claim ignorance but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing when he knows that the election process has been corrupted.

Obasanjo further called for a rerun election next Saturday in areas that were marred with violence.

But according to Akinrinade, the statement of the former president is both unfortunate and a calculative attempt to game the system, adding that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was still busy with the collation and release of the election results.

He said: “His (Obasanjo’s) statement coming at a time when the Independent National Electoral Commission was still busy with the conduct and release of the results of the election is both unfortunate and a glaring and calculative attempt to game the system. Without any shred of evidence, a former President is challenging the integrity of a national election and calling a seating President to truncate it midway.

“As a General, who fought for the unity of this country and one that has witnessed the many twists and turns of our democratic development, I am certain that Nigeria this time is on the right path. I find it most disturbing and objectionable that a former General and President will introduce such a diatribe into the body politic of Nigeria at such a delicate time as this.”

“Obasanjo’s intervention fell short of patriotism and fitted perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that was already the constitutional responsibility of INEC.”

Akinriade, however, called on President Buhari to ignore Obasanjo and focus on supporting the lawful institution to do its job by allowing the process to run its full course.

He added: “The President Buhari I know will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner to truncate the ongoing political procesI.”