Professor Wole Soyinka and Datti Baba-Ahmed
Eko Hot Blog reports that the vice-presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has rejected the invitation by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, to publicly debate issues emanating from the 2023 elections.
Recall that on Wednesday, March 22, Baba-Ahmed, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief Justice of Nigeria not to swear in Bola Tinubu, whom INEC declared as the president-elect, insisting that declaring Tinubu a winner and issuing him a certificate of return was against the constitution.
Baba-Ahmed, who was a guest on Channels TV, went on to stress that “whoever swears in Mr Tinubu” has “ended Democracy” in Nigeria, a position that did not sit well with Soyinka.
Reacting to the interview that elicited great criticism from political stakeholders as well as a N5 million fine for the TV station, the Nobel Laureate described the remarks as a “kind of do-or-die attitude and provocation” that goes contrary to democratic disposition.
Soyinka said the LP vice-presidential candidate tried to “dictate to the supreme arbiter of the nation.”
His comments, however, did not go down well with many LP supporters, who criticised him on social media.
Soyinka consequently issued a statement titled “Fascism on Course”, noting that Nigeria’s democracy in 2023 has witnessed innovations largely in the retrogressive vein, as violence, ethnic profiling and intimidation continue to be easily overlooked even as they are directed against dissenting voices.
He went on to challenge the LP vice presidential candidate to a debate as regards his claims of Nigeria’s democracy ending if Tinubu is sworn in on May 29.
Professor Wole Soyinka
Responding to the invitation in a statement issued on Saturday, the Obi-Datti Media Office said Baba-Ahmed will not debate Soyinka.
The office questioned Soyinka’s “late hour intervention”, wondering where he was before his recent public statements.
Baba-Ahmed’s media office said he is rejecting the Nobel prize winner’s invitation because it is culturally indecent for Baba-Ahmed to sit opposite the 88 year-old literary icon and “point out his folly to his face.”
“Like many Nigerians, we are bewildered by the late hour intervention of our respected Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka in issues around the flawed 2023 elections,” the statement reads.
“Where was he all this while? One of those who should ordinarily and rightfully be honoured as the conscience of the nation, Prof. Soyinka is now criminalising dissent and in fact weighing in on the side of fraud and injustice!
“We state therefore that the vice-presidential candidate of Labour Party, Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed cannot take up Prof. Soyinka’s offer of a public debate, not out of cowardice, but for cultural and political reasons.
“Culturally it’s just not decent, their age and accomplishment gaps taken into account, for Datti to sit opposite the 88 year-old global icon and point out his folly to his face, even if the old man called for it. And politically there is no basis for such a challenge in that Prof. is not on any of the opposite ballots.
“If however he can use his influence to drag his preferred candidates, who resisted debates throughout the campaign, to the studio this second, Datti says he is more than willing to take them on.”
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