From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Festus Keyamo, has petitioned the Department of State Service (DSS), demanding that it invites/arrests and interrogates the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, over their conducts which, he alleged, amounted to incitement and treasonable felony.

Keyamo’s petition dated Thursday, March 23, and directed to the Director General of the secret police, equally demanded charging both individuals to court after investigation, if necessary, over their “incendiary comments and claims capable of causing insurrection or rebellion against the federal government and the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

“I write this petition with the full realisation that in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to soothe frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process. The president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, issued a statement to this effect a few days ago.

“However, it appears the president and vice-presidential candidates of the LP are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances.

“In this regard, since the declaration of the presidential election results, they have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution. In some cases, their privileges have even called for the establishment of an interim government.

“The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Peter Obi on Channels TV, on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the president-elect is sworn in on May 29, 2023, it would “signal the end of democracy”.

“Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected president-elect as “unconstitutional” and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the president-elect is sworn in on May 29, 2023.

“It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted election petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances. These conducts and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister and it is important you rein them in NOW!”

Meanwhile, Chief Spokesperson of the LP Campaign Council, Mr Tanko Yunusa, in a statement, yesterday, said Datti is a free citizen of this country and entitled to his fundamental right of freedom of expression. He said Datti never called for insurrection or any act envisaging treason.

He added: “Keyamo talked about healing, that means Nigeria is sick, that means he recognised that the February 25 election, which announced his principal as the president-elect and the March 18 state elections were marred with blatant rigging, high level violence, voters suppression and intimidation orchestrated by his party.

“Surprisingly Keyamo, who claims to be a ‘patriotic citizen’ closed his eyes to the ethnic and tribal vitriolic by his party and their supporters against the non Yoruba in Lagos. The so-called “patriotic citizen” didn’t report MC Oluomo who told the Igbo not to vote in Lagos.

“After the shameful Chatham House appearance of Keyamo’s principal, his principal was recorded telling key supporters to fight, snatch, grab and run with ballot boxes, which was exactly what happened in the elections. Why didn’t Keyamo, the “patriotic citizen” report to the DSS.”