Chairperson of the Women Wing of the Labour Party in Bauchi State, Hajara John, addressing newsmen in Bauchi
By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The Women Wing of Labour Party in Bauchi State has described the call by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, for the arrest of the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the party, Peter Obi and Ahmed Datti respectively as mischievous and malicious.
It would be recalled that Datti, during a television interview, had said that Ahmed Tinubu should not be sworn in as President until pending issues that border on election irregularities which produced him as president-elect were properly addressed by the courts.
Keyamo, who is one of the spokespersons of the APC campaign organization while reacting to Datti’s comments, called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately arrest and prosecute him for treason.
But reacting to Keyamo’s interview, the Chairperson of the Women Wing of the Labour Party in Bauchi State, Hajara John, told journalists during a press conference on Friday that the Minister’s call for the arrest of Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed was “mischievous and malicious”.
According to her, Datti had the constitutional right as a Nigerian to express his dissatisfaction over the election.
She said the Minister’s call in a television program on Thursday over Datti’s stand on the outcome of the presidential election was done in bad faith and ill- timed considering the fact that “the election was characterized by Irregularities in so many states and our party was rigged out in the process.
The Chairperson said: “We expect Festus Keyamo, who is a lawyer to have jettisoned power drunkenness and come to terms with the opinion of our much respected vice presidential candidate, who was only exercising freedom of expression as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
“It is fresh in the memory of Nigerians that our party which was underrated by the so called biggest party for being structureless but it turned out to be a nightmare to the ruling APC not only during the presidential and National Assembly elections but the just concluded Governorship and States Assembly in which our party won a Governorship seat as well as many National and State Assembly seats.”
She described the feat as a “proof of our Presidential candidate and his running mate’s popularity and goodwill among the people of Nigeria, especially the youth and the downtrodden.
“We are very sure that Keyamo’s vituperation is not unconnected with the fear that his pay masters would lose in court and our stolen mandate given back to us. Keyamo knows that anyone who traverses the length and breadth of Nigeria will be bewildered by the acceptance of our Presidential candidate and his running mate by the good people of Nigeria.
“It is because Nigerians so much believe in Obi/Datti visionary leadership and courage to dare things seeming too difficult to confront that made them troop out en masse to various polling units across the country to vote for them as president and vice president respectively,” she said.
Speaking further, she said: “As Minister of state for labour and employment he should have exercise more restraint and focus more of his energy in seeing how to resolve the lingering or the impending problem between ASUU, Labour and the federal government, so that our workers and especially our poor innocent students will not end up paying the price.
“It is therefore self-serving for Keyamo to call for the arrest of men Nigerians generally believe are men of character, competence and charisma whose footprint are visible to see and feel even at the International scene.
“The call by His Excellency, Sen. Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed should be applauded rather than attempting to create an atmosphere of rancor that may dis-stabilize the country and shortchange the judiciary, which Labour Party has confidence in, the opportunity to deliver justice in favor of our Presidential candidate and the Labour Party.
“We wish to remind Keyamo and his fans that Labour Party remains resolute on its call for justice regarding the just concluded general elections”
