Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has alleged that there was a plot to annul the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Channels Television, Soyinka alleged a premeditated effort to prevent the election or manipulate its outcome, echoing the events of the past.
Soyinka pointedly accused some parties of aiming to replicate history, saying, “I am alleging that there was a conspiracy from the very beginning before the election to make sure the elections did not take place or that even if the voting did take place, that everything be reverted to what happened under Babangida.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Bola Tinubu as President after securing 8,794,726 votes. Expressing his conviction, Soyinka emphasized the gravity of the situation, framing it as a contest between an interim political party and democracy. He asserted, “When you have a binary like that, I have no doubt or hesitation about what side of the barricade my position should be.”
In response to the comments of Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Soyinka condemned his stance as “disgraceful and menacing.” Baba-Ahmed had urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria not to swear in Tinubu as the duly elected president.
Soyinka, in disapproval, stated, “At that interview by Datti, that disgraceful and menacing interview, was for me the ultimate signal because this was somebody calling for the rubbishing of a structure he profited to ever become a governor.”
The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed the cases of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi challenging Tinubu’s victory. The court ruled without merit on opposition appeals over claims of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president, solidifying Tinubu’s position as the winner of the February 25 presidential poll