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Tag: Lai Mohammed

  • Peter Obi replies Lai Mohammed over allegation of treason

    Peter Obi replies Lai Mohammed over allegation of treason

    Finally, Mr Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election has replied Lai Mohammed after the Minister of Information and Culture accused him of treason.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Obi described the allegation of treason against him by the Minister as the height of rascality.

    Recall that Lai Mohammed made an allegation of treason against Peter Obi during engagements with journalists in Washington DC in the United States of America (USA) recently.

    Mohammed accused Obi of inciting people to violence over the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, saying it was treasonable.

    “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.“A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins election,” he said.

    Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Obi condemned the allegation, even as he berated the federal government over the resources expended towards the media rounds where Mohammed made the claim.

    “That is the height of rascality. It was even announced in Washington. I committed a treasonable offence and I’m in Onitsha, and my minister went to announce it in Washington. This is the waste in governance we are talking about and people don’t want to 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.

    “Instead of using that money for this purpose, he went to Washington to announce treason against someone in Onitsha. He doesn’t need to do that.

    “From there he went to London, announcing the same thing when I’m in Nigeria. He should have come to see me or invited me and tell me my offence,” Obi told show host, Charles Aniagolu.

  • Call for my arrest, prosecution baseless – Lai Mohammed

    Call for my arrest, prosecution baseless – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the call for his arrest and prosecution for admonishing Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, over inciting the public to violence is unjustifiable.

    The minister stated this on Wednesday in London while reacting to the call by Elder Statesman and Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, that he should be arrested and prosecuted for spreading “fake news” about Obi.

    Mohammed said he stood by his admonition of Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, insisting that his advice was never premised on falsehood.

    “What will be my offence? Is it by chiding the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party who said on live television that if the President-elect Bola Tinubu is sworn-in on May 29 that that would be the end of democracy in Nigeria?

    “Is it for chiding him for saying that swearing in Tinubu on May 29 is like swearing in the military? What is the fake news in that?” the minister queried.

    He said Baba-Ahmed had never denied his statement made on the live television. Mohammed also said that Obi had also not publicly called his running mate to order over the treasonable utterances.

    “The position of the law is clear that anybody who is aggrieved over election results should go to court. It is not to start threatening Nigerians and heating up the polity simply because you lost an election,” he said.

    Mohammed stressed that the APC won the presidential election “fair and square” and INEC was right in declaring Tinubu the winner.

    He reassured Nigerians and the international community that the president-elect would be sworn in on May 29.

  • Lai Mohammed spreading fake news on Peter Obi – Edwin Clark

    Lai Mohammed spreading fake news on Peter Obi – Edwin Clark

    Nigerian nationalist and  Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to call Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, to order over his alleged gagging of the media and also making unfounded and unproven allegations against members of opposition political parties.

    Clark had in a statement castigated Minister Lai Mohammed for spreading lies against the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.”

    Clark posited that Mohammed has become the mastermind and disseminator of fake news.

    He, therefore, called on Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to investigate Mohammed and charge him to court.

    The senior citizen went on: “It is, therefore, highly hypocritical within government circles today, that statements made to ensure that there is diligent dispensation of justice with regards to the largely flawed 2023 elections that didn’t threaten the existence of the country are being tagged treasonable.

    “Even more regrettable is the fact that an innocent stakeholder in the person of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party, who has not uttered a word, is being mischievously dragged in.

    “Moreover, rather than mention the names of those who have been raising this question, while drag the name of Obi, who has been totally silent on the subject matter, if not for cheap political gain.

    “Like I said, Lai Mohammed did not base his information on any credible intelligence report from the state agencies, but on propaganda and falsity.

    “Therefore, I am of the opinion that he should be charged for spreading an unhealthy information and fake news against an innocent Nigerian, who is very prominent and has proven his worth in the country.

    “Lai Mohammed used the exalted office of the nation’s Ministry of Information to commit this perfidy.

    “Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the just concluded elections, has never taken the laws into his hands. He is going about his case, in the constitutionally provided way.

    “He was the first to seek redress in court over what he felt was an unfair and unjust manner of conducting elections. It is his constitutional right to do so.

    Muhammadu Buhari, in the number of times he contested and failed elections, did same.

    “We all know that at no time from the beginning of the current political season did His Excellency, Peter Obi, make any statement that in whatever manner constituted a breach or threat to the peace and security of this country.”

  • Afenifere wailing over loss of investments on Obi – Lai Mohammed

    Afenifere wailing over loss of investments on Obi – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has condemned the attack on him by pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, for stating Federal Government’s position on the 2023 elections.

    The minister responded to the organisation’s attack in an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Washington.

    Afenifere had berated the minister for admonishing Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate for inciting people to violence over the outcome of the February 25 presidential elections.

    Responding to Afenifere, the minister said the attack on him was borne out of frustration and anger on the loss of their investment on Obi’s election.

    “It is clear from what they said that Afenifere invested heavily on Peter Obi’s presidency, and they failed woefully, that is the reason why they are lamenting.

    “They have refused to get over the loss of what they invested in Obi’s presidency campaign.

    “But the earlier they do, the better for them,’’ he said

    The minister said that Afenifere had lost its reputation and relevance as the voice of the South-West.

    “Fortunate were days when Afenifere sneezes the whole country will catch cold. It is not the same thing right now.

    “When Afenifere talks and you begin to ask yourself, which Afenifere? you know what that means,’’ he said.

    He stressed his position that there was no provision in INEC laws that allows the Commission to transmit the results of election electronically.

    Mohammed said that the entire process from voting to collation to sorting to tabulation and transmission was manual.

    He said the laws setting up INEC, gives the Commission the right to determine the mode of elections, the mode of collation and transmission of results.

    The minister also responded to a call by a civic organisation, Integrity Group calling for his national apology over the admonition of Obi.

    He said the group had failed to understand the position of the Federal Government on the unacceptable postures of the Labour Party presidential candidate

    “I said Peter Obi and the Labour Party should stop inciting people to violence since they have submitted  themselves to the election tribunal..

    “They should stop asking people to go out on the streets, they should stop the reckless statement that if the President-elect is sworn-in,  it will be the end of democracy,’’ he said.

  • Lai Mohammed reveals INEC floated another platform to upload presidential election results

    Lai Mohammed reveals INEC floated another platform to upload presidential election results

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has revealed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) floated another platform to be able to upload the 2023 presidential election results.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Lai Mohammed disclosed this on Wednesday in Washington DC while reacting to a report credited to him that INEC deliberately withheld the real-time upload of presidential election results from polling units.

    Recall that INEC conducted the 2023 presidential election, won by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on 25 February 2023, the results of which were not immediately uploaded to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) as promised by the electoral umpire.

    A report had quoted Mohammed to have said INEC deliberately withheld the real-time upload of presidential election results from polling units. However, in Washington DC, the Minister said the report was a deliberate falsehood, twisted by the online platforms to serve their selfish interests.

    “This is irresponsible and reckless journalism. The truth of the matter is that, one of the major problems in the polity today, is a section of the media. These are people who cannot just belief that the Labour Party or the opposition did not win the election.

    “They convinced themselves that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will loose the election. As a result of this there is nothing you want to say or do, they will find a way to twist it and make it what they want it to look like,” he said.

    The minister said his statement was unambiguous and it was wrong for any media platform to have twisted it, to serve its own interest.

    ”What I said was that, during the election, there was a technical glitch and as a result of this and for INEC to protect the data, it suspended uploading of the results.

    “INEC immediately set up a technical team to look into what went wrong and simultaneously floated another platform,” he said.

    Mohammed added: “Of course, Premium Times has its own agenda. They inserted the word “deliberately” and omitted the phrase that it was in order to protect the sanctity of the data. They make it to look like INEC deliberately refused to upload the results”.

  • Stop giving credence to IPOB – FG tells Western nations

    Stop giving credence to IPOB – FG tells Western nations

    The Federal Government has berated some western countries for giving credence to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a terrorist organisation.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the admonition in Washington DC during his official engagements with some international media organisations and policy institutes.

    The minister is in Washington to engage with international media organisations and Think tanks on the just concluded 2023 polls

    “IPOB is a terrorist organisation so declared by the Nigeria Government, yet some western countries harbour them and have been dealing with the illegal body.

    “They allow them to raise fund, some allow them to lobby their Congress men and lawmakers and whatever fund they realise  they use it to destabilise the country,”  the minister said.

    Mohammed said it is hypocritical for the western world to claim it is fighting terrorism yet turn around to be supporting a terrorist organisation.

    The minister also used the opportunity of the interactions to call on the foreign media to stop regurgitating social media fables on the Nigeria’s 2023 elections on their platforms.

    He said they should be critical and interrogate the information they get on the social media before reporting them on their platforms.

  • JUST IN: Peter Obi reacts to allegation of treason

    JUST IN: Peter Obi reacts to allegation of treason

    Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has said he has never discussed or encouraged anyone to undermine the Nigerian state. He also stated that he has never sponsored or preached any action against the Nigerian state.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Obi’s reaction is coming after Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed accused him and his running mate, Dr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed to have committed treason, following an alleged leaked conversation between him and the Bishop of Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo.

    In a series of tweets, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the just concluded 2023 elections stressed that he is known for advocating for peace and issue-based campaign and that he has never campaigned based on ethnicity or religion.

    Peter Obi wrote on Twitter: “In the past few days, I have observed various campaigns of calumny directed at my person, with the latest being allegations attributed to the information Minister, Lai Mohammed from Washington DC.

    “It is most unfortunate that these consistent efforts to portray me quite contrary to what I am, and my core values, is coming from such high quarters. Minister Lai accusing me of stoking insurrection is totally malicious and fictitious.

    “I have never discussed or encouraged anyone to undermine the Nigerian state; I have never sponsored or preached any action against the Nigerian state. Those initiating these actions have increasingly used their official positions and agents to make false allegations against me.

    “I am on record as always, advocating for peace and issue-based campaign and never campaigned based on ethnicity or religion. I am committed to due process, and presently seeking redress in the Court.

    “I urge those engaged in this demarketing process to stop presenting Nigeria in such bad light. Our future generations deserve a new Nigeria, where they can live a secure and decent life like their counterparts in other climes. It is possible.

  • BREAKING: Peter Obi, Datti Baba-Ahmed accused of treason

    BREAKING: Peter Obi, Datti Baba-Ahmed accused of treason

    Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections and his running mate, Dr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed have been said to have committed treason.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed accused them of treason in Washington DC during his official engagements with some international media organisations.

    “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 inciting insurrection, and this is what they are doing. Obi’s statement is that of a desperate person. He is not a democrat that he claimed to be. A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins an election,” Lai Mohammed said.

    The Minister of Information and Culture admonished Mr Obi to stop inciting people to violence over the outcome of the presidential elections.

    Mohammed is in Washington to engage with international media organisations and Think-tanks on the just concluded 2023 polls. He has so far engaged with the Washington Post,  Voice of America, Associated Press and Foreign Policy Magazine.

    During the respective interactions with the media organisations, the minister said it was wrong for Obi in one breadth to seek redress in court over the outcome of the polls and in another breadth incite people to violence.

    Mohammed said in challenging the election results, there was no pathway to victory for either Obi or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). According to the minister, both Obi and Atiku failed to meet the constitutional requirements to be declared as president.

    “The constitution has stringent criteria for any body who want to be president of the country. Not only must he has the plurality of vote cast in an election, he must also have scored one quarter of votes cast in at least 25 states.

    “Only the President elect met the criteria  by scoring 8.79 million votes and having one quarter of all the vote cast in 29 states of the federation,” the Minister said.

    Mohammed went further to say Atiku who came second with 6.9 million votes was only able to make one quarter of votes cast in 21 states, adding that Obi came third with 5.8 million votes but won only one quarter of votes cast in 15 states.

    “You cannot win election in a poll where you came a distant third position and failed to meet constitutional requirements. Peter Obi, while complaining of fraud has not disown his victory in Lagos,” Mohammed said.

    Elaborating on his mission to the U.S., the minister said he was there to correct the negative narratives being promoted by naysayers and opposition on the election. He said the opposition, having lost in the election were alleging fraud, calling for its cancellation and constitution of interim government.

    “We have come here to balance that skewed narratives and to tell the world unambiguously that the just concluded general elections in Nigeria is the fairest, most transparent and authentic in the history of Nigeria.

    “The election is the most fair and credible because of the introduction of the Bimodal Voters Verification System (BVAS), which I regard as a game changer. BVAS technology had helped to  weed out ghost and illegal voters, eliminate multiple voting and return sanity to the elections,” he said.

    Relying on INEC report, the Minister said BVAS, during the polls worked 97 per cent giving unparalleled credibility to the elections.

  • Lai Mohammed describes 2023 polls as one of the most transparent elections in Nigeria –

    Lai Mohammed describes 2023 polls as one of the most transparent elections in Nigeria –

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the 2023 elections as the most transparent and credible ever held in the country.

    The minister said this on Saturday, March 18 in his hometown, Oro, Ilorin area of Kwara State.

    Mohammed said the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, helped tackle the issues of multiple accreditations, voting and rigging.

    “With what I have observed both in the February 25 and today’s elections, there has been a remarkable improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    This is to me probably one of the most transparent and credible elections in Nigeria. That is why I get worried about the red-erring by some people I can call sad losers in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    “I am glad to say that some of the aggrieved parties have gone to court. That is the best thing in any election in the world. Let the court interpret what the law says.”

    “Without any doubt, the introduction of BVAS has been a game changer in the sense that with BVAS, you are able to get the actual number of people who are accredited.

    “Also with BVAS, it is now not possible for you to vote twice because your biometric and facial are captured. That explained why though INEC said there were 84 million voters in Nigeria, the last election showed that only about 24 million people cast their votes,’’ he said.

    He pointed out that most of the issues being raised about the credibility of INEC in conducting the polls were to distract people.

    “What we noticed is that some media houses had taken position for one candidate and this makes rubbish of most of the analysis we see on their platforms,’’ he said.

  • 2023 polls most credible, transparent – Lai Mohammed

    2023 polls most credible, transparent – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has described the 2023 polls as one of the most transparent and credible ever held in the country.

    The minister said this on Saturday in his hometown, Oro, near Ilorin Kwara while speaking with newsmen after casting his vote in the Governorship and State Assemblies elections.

    the minister voted at about 9.45 a.m. at Polling Unit 006, Oro Ward 2 in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara.

    Justifying his assertion, the minister said the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was a game changer in tackling the issues of multiple accreditations, voting and rigging.

    “With what I have observed both in the February 25 and today’s elections, there has been a remarkable improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

    “Without any doubt, the introduction of BVAS has been a game changer in the sense that with BVAS, you are able to get the actual number of people who are accredited.

    “Also with BVAS, it is now not possible for you to vote twice because your biometric and facial are captured.

    “That explained why though INEC said there were 84 million voters in Nigeria, the last election showed that only about 24 million people cast their votes,’’ he said.

    The minister said, in spite of the obvious improvements in the electoral process, he was worried about the red herring that trailed the outcomes of the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assemblies elections.

    He said most of the issues being raised about the credibility of INEC in conducting the polls were distractive.

    According to the minister, the electoral law does not recognises electronic voting while the decision of a federal high court in Abuja gives INEC the power to determine the manner it collates and transmits election results.

    Mohammed said he was happy that some of the aggrieved parties in the concluded elections had approached the court to ventilate their grievances.

    He, however, berated the activities of some non-state actors making analysis and propositions which he said were incendiary and injurious to the harmonious and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria.

    The minister said the activities of some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) had also been very unhelpful because many of them came out to unjustifiably discredit INEC and set one ethnic and religion against the other

    He said the media should also be circumspect of what they report on the elections and must show professionalism in discharge of their duties.

    “What we noticed is that some media houses had taken position for one candidate and this makes rubbish of most of the analysis we see on their platforms,’’ he said.

    The minister said the regulators of the media, particularly the broadcast media were doing their best by issuing warnings and fines where applicable.

    He said many of the broadcast stations that were fined had refused to comply and pay up but dared the regulator.

    He said the intention of the broadcast stations was to provoke the regulator to shut down their stations and by so doing labeling the government of  stifling press freedom.

    The minister assured that the regulators would not rest on their oars in the discharge of their constitutional duty of ensuring that the right things were done in the media industry.