Arrest Lai Mohammed Over Fake News Against Obi — Clark

                Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark

(    https://muckrack.com/kingsley-benneth/articles )

Chief Edwin Clark, leader of the Pan-Ni­ger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has called for the arrest of the Minister of Informa­tion and Culture, Lai Mohammed, over his comment about the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The elder statesman said the minis­ter should be prosecuted for spreading what he termed fake news and propa­ganda against Obi.

Lai Mohammed had on April 5 in Washington DC said both Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, made comments over the outcome of the Feb­ruary 25 presidential election that was tantamount to treason.

Baba-Ahmed had in a recent interview asked the Chief Jus­tice of Nigeria not to swear in the President-elect on May 29, adding that democracy in Nigeria will end should the inauguration hold.

Chief Edwin Clark accused Mohammed of causing more “divisions in the country” as Minister of Information for eight years now, rather than unite the country.

In a statement on Monday, Clark described the minister’s job as the image maker of gov­ernment for the past eight years as disappointing, recalling that he held a similar position 48 years ago when he was appoint­ed by former Head of State, Gen­eral Yakubu Gowon as Federal Commissioner for Information in 1975.

Clark, who condemned Mo­hammed for not basing his ac­cusations on any report or infor­mation given by any state agency, but on mere propaganda urged President Buhari to call him to order, noting that the “nation is already too tensed; those whose responsibility it is to douse the tension should not be the ones stoking the embers of a fire that will flame up the country.”

“Lai Mohammed as Minister of Information of the country, for the eight years now, since the inception of President Buhari’s government, rather than uniting the country as his job implies, by creating an atmosphere for Nige­rians to live together as brothers and sisters of the Federal Re­public of Nigeria, has instead, caused divisions in the country.

“I had on several occasions condemned this conduct of his attempting to suppress, gag, and intimidate the press. He has used the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as an agent of his Ministry. NBC is no lon­ger the independent organisa­tion which it used to be, treating the press as a noble profession, made up of noble practitioners. A case in point is the five million naira fine slammed on Channels Television without even the rudi­ments of natural justice, in this case, a fair hearing, which is a basic procedure of justice to en­sure fairness. Rather, slamming media houses with fines without hearing from the media houses is the trial that has now become a constant weapon of intimidation and harassment of the press…

“It is clear therefore that the Minister of Information has constituted himself to become the mastermind and dissemi­nator of fake news. This leaves us with no option than to call on the Attorney General of the nation to undertake thorough investigation of the activities of the minister and charge him to court.

“Lai Mohammed as Infor­mation Minister and chief pro­pagandist of President Muham­madu Buhari’s government was cut to size and became very un­comfortable for the growing pop­ularity of Mr. Peter Obi’s appeal to the exuberant Nigeria youths who practically demonstrated their support for Mr. Peter Obi and the Obedient that came in droves to take back their country.

“The impression that gained ground at the time was that Obi was only popular on social media and not on the a ground, but Obi’s per­formance within the short time he entered the race made him the man of the moment in the presi­dential election. Lai Mohammed therefore in his usual character­istics carried fake news within and outside Nigeria to discredit and tarnish the reputation of Mr. Peter Obi.

“It is criminal, unpatriotic, and wicked for anyone to draw the name of Mr. Peter Obi who fully participated in the 2023 pres­idential election and who has gone to court to express his dis­satisfaction with the outcome of the presidential election and his popularity which has spread to all part of the country as a wild­fire has no doubt caused a great embarrassment to the Federal Government.

“What is being alleged as a discovery of a plot to overthrow the Federal Government by DSS is malicious and untrue. Finally, one cannot help but note that Lai Mohammed’s actions are target­ed against perceived political op­ponents and enemies. I wish to strongly advise Mr. President to call his spokesmen to order. The nation is already too tensed; those whose responsibility it is to douse the tension should not be the ones stoking the embers of a fire that will flame up the country.”