A Lagos politician and security expert, Dr. Dipo Okeyomi, has urged security agencies to investigate Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, over his statement that the May 29 inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu, would not hold.
Baba-Ahmed had said on a Channels TV interview programme that Asiwaju Tinubu would not be sworn in, adding that it would be unconstitutional and an invitation to military takeover.
Okeyomi said: “I have had to wait till this time to respond to Baba-Ahmed’s treasonable comments because as a security expert, I needed to do a background check on the man who though well-educated and operating in his right senses, could talk as though he was heavily drunk.
“Baba-Ahmed, long before his utterances, had been enmeshed in controversies that had always pitched him at suspicious moves against the Nigerian state.
“Since he beat his chest and asked to be quoted that a duly elected President would not be sworn in, I expect that relevant security agencies should be profiling him and that he should be thoroughly investigated, to ascertain the extent of his plot to stop Tinubu’s inauguration, to know the others in his syndicate of no-inauguration gang, and to farm out their possible cache of arms and other leather weapons.”
He added that sentiments should not be read into security matters and that the fact that Baba-Ahmed is a running mate to a presidential candidate does not place him above the law, stressing that an early arrest of Baba-Ahmed would aid the investigation process.
“The man’s international passports should be immediately seized, while his movement should be restricted. He should be placed under surveillance in the first instance,” he said.
He said while the law permits freedom of speech, the same law prohibits treasonable or inciting comments or hate speeches.
“Baba-Ahmed and his principal are already in court; let them go and prove their case there rather than going around town inciting the people, forging lies and threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria,” he said.