Labour Party ‘Respectfully’ Roasts Soyinka Over Comments On Obi, Datti

The Labour Party’s leadership rebuked Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka for saying that the party was trying to trick Nigerians into thinking that Peter Obi, its presidential candidate, won the contested February 25 poll.

The protest follows Soyinka’s statement made on Wednesday at a symposium titled “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue,” which took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The eminent author had emphasised that although the Labour Party leadership was aware that Obi finished third, they continued to play “gbajue” (to push a falsehood) on the populace, particularly the young.

Peter Obi Did Not Win 2023 Presidential Election – Wole Soyinka

However, the Obi camp and senior Labour Party members took issue with his statements.

Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, responded in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday, describing Soyinka’s statement as not befitting of a guy who is highly regarded as a detribalized statesman.

Ifoh further added they could not fathom that the playwright could fall victim to the “groupthink syndrome” based on primal considerations in the release headlined “Soyinka: Statesmen are not double-faced, not blind to the truth.”

When a group of people agrees on something without using critical thinking or weighing the pros and negatives, it is known as groupthink syndrome.

He said, “Prof. Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian whose accomplishments in the literary world are without doubt intimidating. However, we beg to disagree with his prognosis and personal opinion on the performance of our party during the 2023 general elections. The facts are before the courts and, out of respect for our judiciary, we will reserve our comments until the Supreme Court makes a final pronouncement.

Nigerians Roast Wole Soyinka For Attacking Peter Obi

“We understand that the literary giant is human and thus susceptible to emotions and probably said what he said based on information made available to him by those who share the ‘Emilokan’ sentiment.

“It is most befuddling as well as disconcerting that a detribalised activist like Soyinka would succumb to the ‘groupthink syndrome’ that subscribes to state capture by those belonging to the criminal fringe by any means, based on primordial considerations.

“We really appreciate him for at least giving some credit to the Labour Party and its presidential candidate for breaking the monopoly of power hitherto held by the two other parties.”

The spokesman continued by expressing regret that Soyinka chose a side rather than denouncing some irregularities in the lead-up to the most recent general elections and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s appalling performance.

Ifoh came to the conclusion that “Kongi” is a Nigerian and has a similar right to his views.

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“The whole world followed the 2023 general election and there was a global condemnation on not only the outcome of the election but also the process, particularly, the ‘glitch’ that occurred only during the transmission of presidential results to IREV. We didn’t hear as much as a whisper from Kongi on reminding INEC to stand by its word.

“We will not allege selective amnesia as the reason for Soyinka’s wrong prognosis but we would have expected him to be a statesman, which we thought he was by remaining on the side of caution.

“We want to also let him know that building a new Nigeria is a dream whose time has come and Nigerian youths will not relent until such dream is realised,” he said.

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