•Minister says Tinubu’s victory shocked foreign commentators
Many foreign commentators were shocked by the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as President-elect because of they had a wrong mindset prior to the February 25 poll, the Federal Government has said.
The government blamed their faulty mindset on what it termed “hyped activities” of the Labour Party (LP) and its supporters on the social media as well as the many opinion polls which favoured the opposition party.
It also said there was no way Peter Obi, who flew LP’s flag during the election could have won since he was unpopular in 22 states.
Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed reflected on the poll result during his engagements with some international media organisations and Think Tanks in London yesterday.
Mohammed is in London to defend the credibility, and legitimacy of the general elections and correct what the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government considers as skewed narratives about the polls.
The minister, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), has so far engaged with three international media organisations, The Economist, The Guardian and African Confidential, as well as Think Tank, Royal African Society.
He said: “In the course of my interactions, particularly with the Economist, I referred them to an earlier article they wrote, in which they rated the LP presidential candidate as the front runner in the polls.
“I explained to them that there was no way a presidential candidate who has no political spread and a grassroots base could win an election in Nigeria.
“I also explained to them that many of them were ignorant of the constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate to win an election in Nigeria.
“For instance, not only that a candidate must have the plurality of votes, he must also have one-quarter of the total votes cast in at least 25 states of the federation.
“When you look at the results, only the candidate (Tinubu) of the ruling APC met these requirements.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came short of these because he came second and had 25 per cent in 21 states.
“Obi came far behind with 25 per cent in 15 states.
“This means that Obi, who was wrongly adjudged as a front runner in the election, was virtually unknown and unpopular in 22 states.”
Mohammed reiterated his position that there was no pathway to victory for either Atiku or Obi because they did not meet the conditions to be declared president.
“For any party to ignore the Northeast and the Northwest of Nigeria during a presidential election, it will be impossible for it to win.
“The election had thrown up a lot of surprises and it is precisely those surprises that made it credible and transparent. “
On the large turnout of youths for voter registration before the election, the minister explained that winning an election was beyond registration.
His words: ‘What INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) did was to ensure the extension of voter registration for about 18 months so that people will not be disenfranchised.
“However, it is one thing to register to vote and it is another thing to come out to vote on an election day.
“Those 24 million people that came out to vote during the polls were the authentic people that concluded the processes of election.”
Mohammed said INEC should be praised for the introduction and the strict usage of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
According to him, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.
He also dismissed the call by Ijaw National Leader and Convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, for his (Mohammed) prosecution for being a “mastermind and disseminator of fake news” against Obi.
Clark made the call while responding to the minister’s allegation in the United States that Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, were inciting violence over the outcome of the election.
Baba-Ahmed had said that Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirements to become Nigeria’s president and, therefore, should not be inaugurated on May 29.
But Mohammed said his remarks in the US were devoid of falsehood. He insisted that LP is “heating the polity” simply because it lost the election.
The minister said: “What will be my offence? Is it by chiding the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party who said on live television that if President-elect Bola Tinubu is sworn-in on May 29 that that would be the end of democracy in Nigeria?”
“Is it for chiding him for saying that swearing in Tinubu on May 29 is like swearing in the military?
“What is the fake news in that? The position of the law is clear that anybody who is aggrieved over election results should go to court.
“It is not to start threatening Nigerians and heating the polity simply because you lost an election.”