Akinrinade to Buhari: Ignore Obasanjo’s advice… he conducted the worst election in 2007

Alani Akinrinade, a former chief of army staff, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the advice of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the ongoing electoral process.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Akinrinade said Obasanjo’s advice “falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state”.

On Saturday, Nigerians voted in the presidential and national assembly elections.

But the elections continued in some polling units on Sunday owing to logistics.

Over the last 48 hours, the major opposition parties — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) — have alleged that the results being declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been manipulated.

On Monday, Obasanjo asked Buhari to take urgent steps to address the concerns raised over the alleged discrepancies regarding the results of the election.

The former president said elections marred by irregularities should be rescheduled.

Responding to Obasanjo’s comment, Akinrinade said Nigerians can recall how the former president oversaw the “worst election in history” in 2007 and attempted to extend his term.

“Being not neutral, Obasanjo’s intervention falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that is already the constitutional responsibility of INEC,” he said.

“Nigerians can easily recall the Obasanjo years and his democratic antics and many bullish attempts at circumventing the political process.

“I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s recent interruptions and focus on supporting the lawful institution to do its job by allowing the process to run its full course.

“The President Buhari I know will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner to truncate the ongoing political process.

“Luckily, President Buhari is made of finer and more principled democratic stuff.

“He will not allow Obasanjo to lure him into tainting his democratic credentials in this regard.

“I recall that in his last trip to the United States, President Joe Biden praised Buhari’s commitment to democratic values and principles. Obasanjo has no such record to be applauded.

“The world has not forgotten his fraudulent and undemocratic attempt at a third-term agenda in violation of the letter and spirit of the Nigerian constitution.

“In 2007, after his botched third term bid, Obasanjo conducted the worst election in the history of Nigeria.

“The beneficiary of that electoral heist, Late President Umaru Yar’Adua openly admitted that his presidency was a product of a fraudulent election with a commitment to reform the electoral process.”