The Labour Party's (LP) vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed has accepted Wole Soyinka's challenge to a live debate on national television.
In an interview with Channels TV on March 22, Datti claimed that despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the election's victor, the country still lacked a president-elect.
The APC nominee "has not met criteria of the law," according to the LP vice presidential candidate, thus if sworn into office, Tinubu will be in charge of an unlawful government.
Political stakeholders criticized the interview, and the TV station was fined N5 million as a result.
Soyinka responded in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, calling the comments a "kind of do-or-die attitude and provocation" that runs against to democratic principles.
He continued, saying it was unacceptable that the LP vice-presidential candidate tried to "dictate to the supreme arbitrator of the nation."
However, the "Obidients," notably on social media platforms, have criticized and harassed Soyinka as a result of his statement.
The Nobel laureate responded by criticizing the penalties imposed on Channels Television for airing the "incisive interview" with Labour Party vice presidential candidate in a statement released on Friday.
Soyinka stated that he was ready to debate Datti or any of his nominees "on this precise bone of dispute - one-on-one - without the foul intrusion of media trolls, and with the same interviewer as mediator" on the platform.
"May I, by the way, take this opportunity to protest the sanctions imposed on CHANNELS Television which anchored the performance of the LP candidate?" he said. As I've already mentioned, I closely followed the program and observed the interviewer's heroic efforts to secure a fair hearing. I am unable to see how the station could be blamed, except from a propensity towards injustice.
“To sustain that penalty is to give joy to others who turn Internet into a soakaway for their rancid emissions, yet feel that others should be silenced. If CHANNELS feels up to it, I offer myself willing to engage Mr. Datti – or any nominee of his – on its platform on this very bone of contention – one-on-one – without the malodorous intervention of media trolls, and with the same interviewer as mediator.
That should be taken as a serious offer. “Project NIGERIA, I must confess, has become near terminally soul-searing. Do I still believe in it? I am no longer certain but – first we must rid ourselves of the tyranny of the ignorant and the opportunism of time-servers. In any case, there is not much else to engage one on a foundation of ownership stakes.
“There is of course, always the possibility of a Revolution, with a clarity of purpose and acceptance of all attendant risks, including costly errors.
Revolutions are not however based on the impetus of speculative power entitlement.
“No matter, until that moment, the structures that ensure just and equitable cohabitation must be protected from partisan appropriation – be it from material inducement, fake news, or verbal terrorism – the last being the contribution of one who is positioned to assume co-leadership of the nation, no less. Revolution is not about lining up behind the nearest available symbol. When a symbol does emerge however, we are still obliged to examine every aspect of what is fortuitously on offer, and continue to guard our freedoms every inch of the way.
“Before I take myself off for – well, next port of call – the final word goes to a favourite maverick, propagated even as he matched his words by action.
I suspect that in this instance we find ourselves on opposite sides of the strategic fence – that is democracy. This now coopted watchword of his formulation remains apt, applicable to all who strive for authentic social transformation: Your mummu done do!”
Assaults on Soyinka for criticizing Datti Yusuf Baba-Ahmed for demanding that the Supreme Court decide in the party's favor, the writer added, vindicate his earlier claim that fascism was gaining ground in politics.
He declared, "It appears that the Republic of Liars' streets and sewers are currently clogged with a record discharge of hazardous sludge from our infamous smut factory. It serves to Accurately demonstrate the point that caused the avalanche! Fascism's political nascent seeds have clearly grown into mature plants.
"A fearful atmosphere is developing. The inability to consider constructive criticism or even different viewpoints on the same topic has evolved into a badge of honor and testament to one's dedication. Truth is ultimately at risk, and at the most fundamental level of social convention, parties to a dispute are not allowed to intimidate the arbiter, try to influence the conclusion, or question the neutrality of the arbiter without a valid reason before the hearing has even started.
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