Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, came under fire on social media after criticising a remark made by Labour Party vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Additionally, the Obidients criticised Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for supporting Wole Soyinka’s criticism of Datti Baba-Ahmed, Peter Obi’s running mate and a contender for the Labour Party’s presidential nomination.
Recall that despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, Baba-Ahmed said that the country lacked a president-elect.
Baba-Ahmed claimed that Tinubu, if sworn into office, will be in charge of an unlawful administration since the APC candidate has not complied with the law.
READ ALSO: Soyinka On The 2023 Elections: “My Trust Has Completely Broken Down”
“Whoever swears in Mr Tinubu has ended democracy in Nigeria. Mr. President, do not hold that inauguration. CJN, your lordship, do not partake in unconstitutionality,” Baba-Ahmed said in a Channels TV programme.
“I am taking this risks for the sake of my country. Yes, it is extreme and I am saying it. It was more extreme for Yakubu (INEC Chair) to issue that certificate (of return). You cannot swear in people who have not met constitutional requirements. If you do that, you have done something unlawful, something unconstitutional.
“And I am repeating it, whoever does not meet the constitutional requirement must not, must never be sworn in. You said my name. If you like I can say it again. I am Datti Baba-Ahmed.” Baba-Ahmed said.
However, a number of organisations, individuals and institutions have criticised the interview, and the National Broadcasting Commission fined it N5 million. (NBC).
In response to the LP vice-presidential candidate’s comments, Soyinka said that Datti’s entire speech was disrespectful, intolerable, and dictating to the Supreme Court.
With his principal, Peter Obi, Baba-Ahmed finished third in the presidential vote on February 25. Soyinka called Baba-Ahmed’s remarks against the Supreme Court “fascistic language.”
“I criticised a vice presidential candidate’s intimidating remarks as inappropriate. In an interview with Channels Television, Soyinka remarked, “It was a gladiatorial challenge aimed at the judges and, by implication, the rest of the democratic politics.
On Thursday, Moghalu tweeted: “Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice in our country and around the world. He is a phenomenon that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deep.”
“His endorsement of my 2019 presidential candidacy in my short-lived but impactful foray into Nigerian electoral politics remains one of the greatest honors of my life.
“I view very dimly any criticism of him simply because he’s OBJECTIVE. He survived dictators. He will survive you.”
In the interview, Soyinka disclosed that he had forewarned Obi that the attitudes of his supporters would be to blame if he lost the presidential election.
However, the Obidients, also known as Obi’s followers, expressed their disgust with the Nobel laureate’s remarks on Twitter.
One Twitter user, @ucheinspires, accused the Nobel laureate of having a personal relationship with Tinubu’s family, saying, “It will not be surprising to me if he goes after anyone perceived to be against his dearly beloved friend and brother Tinubu.”
On his part, @iangobo, said, “Grandpa Soyinka must have been brought back home to lend Tinubu his voice as a beneficiary of Tinubu’s largesse. I didn’t expect anything less from him.”
Another user, @BishopPOEvang, described Soyinka as “the man who promised to tear his US green card if Trump won and never did.”
But defending Soyinka, the candidate of the Young Progressives Party in the 2019 presidential election, Kingsley Moghalu, said the Nobel laureate would survive his critics.
He tweeted, “Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice in our country and around the world. He is a phenomenon that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deep. He survived dictators. He will survive you.”
On Twitter, where his tweet received over 4,000 comments—mostly negative ones—Moghalu was promptly called out.
“Jealousy!” said one @Polsaph. Do you aspire to be Peter Obi? While tweeting, “So, because he endorsed your candidature in 2019, he’s above criticism? “, @OjiUgo_nwa asked. Wake up, because it’s 2023 and we’re trying to put our nation on the proper track. our is extremely funny.
