Prior to the recent warning by John Mayaki an APC chieftain in Edo State to the Labor Party Vice Presidential Candidate's claim that “there is no president elect in the Country, and as such, there cannot be an official swearing -in ceremony and transfer of power on May 29, 2023.”
The Chairman of the Edo State Media and Publicity Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council John Mayaki had warned the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Labor Party to retract his statement made in a previous interview or face legal Consequences.
According to him : “If Datti-Ahmed doesn’t retract his statement right once and apologize to the APC and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he will be prosecuted for criminal incitement and sedition. Until he makes up for his carelessness, the media must enforce accountability and bar him from coverage. This is consistent with the media’s responsibility to uphold the veracity of facts, which includes Bola Tinubu’s status as the next president.”
Furthermore, Mayaki praised Professor Wole Soyinka, a Nobel Laureate winner, for his recent denunciation of Datti Baba-remarks, Ahmed’s noting that the literary giant had once more shown bravery where others had failed.
Human Rights Activists Chief Dr. Patrick Osagie Eholor otherwise known as the Ultimate Equal has today condemned the Statement made by Mayaki.
According to him Ordinarily he would have ignored and face other serious issues that are worthy of his attention.
But we can not leave wrong things in the Society unattended to.
Eholor Said “ By the court of appeal decision as cited in Arthur Nwankwo v. The State (1985) 6 NCLR 228, where a bonafide citizen being the defendant in this case was charged with sedition under section 51 of the Criminal Code before an Onitsha High Court for publishing a book that had exposed corrupt practices under former Governor Jim Nwobodo of Anambra State. The appellant was convicted and sentenced to one-year imprisonment. But the conviction and sentence were set aside by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the offence of sedition is illegal and unconstitutional. Speaking for the court, Olatawura JCA as he then was held inter alia:
“We are no longer the illiterates or the mob society our colonial masters had mind when the law was promulgated…To retain S. 51 of the Criminal Code, in its present form, that is even if not inconsistent with the freedom of expression guaranteed by our constitution will be a deadly weapon to be used at will by a corrupt government or a tyrant…Let us not diminish from the freedom gained from our colonial masters by resorting to laws enacted by them to suit their purpose.”
The laws enacted by “our colonial masters” and imposed on the country include the Official Secrets Act and the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to sedition and criminal libel. As criticism is indispensable in a democratic society, Olatawura J.C.A. charged the Nigerian people to defend their hard won freedom of expression at all times. According to his lordship:
“The decision of the founding fathers of this present constitution which guarantees freedom of speech just like that made by datti Ahmed , which must include freedom to criticize, should be praised and any attempt to derogate from it except as provided in the constitution must be resisted. Those in public office should not be intolerant of criticism. Where a writer exceeds the bounds there should be a resort to the law of libel where the plaintiff must of necessity put his character and reputation in issue.”
Since the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Nwankwo v The State supra is binding on all authorities and persons in Nigeria it is submitted that the resort to criminal libel , incitement and sedition by public officers to settle scores with critics and political opponents is illegal in every material particular. However, public officers who feel offended by any defamatory publication are not without remedy. They have been rightly advised by the Court of Appeal to defend their reputation and bruised ego by suing for libel in a court of law.
Flowing from all the above, I then wonder why has Mr mayaki not sought the opinions of lawyer and be educated on the current state of the law on sedition , criminal law of defamation and incitement in this regard. The answers to all the above is that the threat to prosecute Mr Dabove is that the threat to prosecute Mr datti Ahmed over a channels television interview by Mr John mayaki is dead on arrival, as by the current state of our laws, the law of sedition , incitement and including criminal libel is no longer existent. Moreso we all remember in 2015, the present vice president of Nigeria in person of professor yemi osinbanjo was in the same channels television and made certain and some sensitive statements against the then pdp government, we also hope , that Mr mayaki will extend his threat to the APC and vice president yemi osinbanjo also. A word is enough for the wise. ln conclusion,we hoping that Mr John mayaki will seek strong legal opinion and refrain from attempting to muzzle and intimidate our beloved Vice Presidential candidate of labour party in the person of Mr Datti Ahmed. Datti Ahmed over a channels television interview by Mr John mayaki is dead on arrival, as by the current state of our laws, the law of sedition , incitement and including criminal libel is no longer existent. Moreso we all remember in 2015, the present Vice President of Nigeria in person of professor Yemi Osinbanjo was in the same channels television and made certain and some sensitive statements against the then pdp government, we also hope , that Mr Mayaki will extend his threat to the APC and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also. A word is enough for the wise. In conclusion, we are hoping that Mr John Mayaki will seek strong legal opinion and refrain from attempting to muzzle and intimidate our beloved vice presidentail candidate of Labour party in the person of Mr Datti Ahmed.
He also revealed that Professor Wole Soyinka should not have interfered “ I have profound respect for The Nobel Laureate, PProfessor Wole Soyinka. He has the right to express himself. But my concern is that when Wole Soyinka came out with the Pirates in the early 1960’s , it was because he was trying to resist the oppressors.
When he took to radio stations to express his plight on the situation at that particular time , nobody called him a Facist. The word Facist should not be used for Peter Obi or Datti, so I want to appeal to him as an Elder statesman to be neutral in this matter, so as not to appear tribal because we have a lot of respect for him, he has really helped this Country and made us proud internationally.
“ However, there are times when it is better for a leader to stay completely mute on some issues . I want to appeal to him that he remains neutral so that people will not look at it, like he is using ethnicity to judge. Please let him remain Neutral and he will forever be respected.
MC Oluomo was out there threatening the Igbos not to vote , I believe he should have addressed that matter before speaking on this.” He said.
He further reiterated that everyone should join hands together irrespective of their ethnicity, to promote national Unity.