Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, has accused the Labour Party of trying to mislead Nigerians about the results of the election on February 25.
This statement was given by Soyinka on Wednesday in Stellenbosch, South Africa, during an event called “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue,” which was sponsored by “Africa in the World.”
He claimed that while the party’s leadership was aware that Peter Obi, their presidential candidate, did not win the election, they were still trying to convince Nigerians, particularly young people, of “a lie” that Obi had done so.
After the general election, when questioned about his earlier remarks on Datti Baba-Ahmed, the LP vice presidential candidate, Soyinka replied he was devoted to telling the truth.
He claimed that in 1965, when he assaulted an Ibadan radio station, he was well-prepared and did not rely on hearsay about the regional election.
In addition, he charged that the LP had infiltrated the organized labor movement ahead of the elections in 2023.
He added that by shattering the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party’s hold on power, Obi had accomplished “something remarkable.”
“First of all, two things occurred during the most recent election. The labor movement, which is not my favorite movement, was taken over by one party, which later evolved into a regional party.
“However, it was an amazing breach into the two established camps. Peter Obi broke that mold, which was a fantastic accomplishment. He fell short of winning the election, though.
I can certainly state that Peter Obi’s party placed third, not even second, and the leadership was aware of this, but they still wanted to use force of lies, or “gbajue,” as it is known in Yoruba.
The Nobel Prize winner further charged that the LP leadership was trying to organize young people to oppose the election results under a “banner of lies and deceit.”
