The Labour Party (LP) has tackled Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, over his recent comments regarding the party’s performance in the 2023 general election.
KanyiDaily recalls that Wole Soyinka recently accused the LP leadership of knowingly promoting falsehoods about the outcome of the 2023 general election, in which Peter Obi was the presidential candidate of the party.
Soyinka, who spoke at an event titled “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue” in Stellenbosch, South Africa, criticized the LP for attempting to deceive Nigerian Nigerians by claiming that Peter Obi won the election.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday, LP spokesperson Obiora Ifoh accused Soyinka of hypocrisy and chauvinism, stressing that his comments were inaccurate and misleading.
Ifoh contended that Soyinka had overlooked the widespread irregularities and disenfranchisement that marred the elections, including issues during the transmission of election results.
He also accused the Noble Laureate of failing to condemn attacks on LP supporters by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos during the election.
The LP statement read, “We beg to disagree with his prognosis and personal opinion on the performance of our party during the 2023 general elections.
“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 detribalized and activist 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 are aware that Soyinka resides in Lagos state and he was in Nigeria on February 25 when elections were held in Nigeria.
“He watched probably with glee when a certain individual in Lagos warned non-indigenes to vote for a particular political party or risk being deported to their place of birth, and he never condemned it.
“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 and not exhibiting the dual character of someone who may be blinded by some chauvinistic tendencies.”
The Labour Party also criticized Soyinka for what it perceived as a dual personality and urged him to support the aspiration of building a new Nigeria.
