The Chief Spokesman for the Labour Party Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, has said that the party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had not done anything contrary to the Constitution by going to court to reclaim their mandate, adding that the military should stick to their constitutional role of defence, and not dabble into politics and political pronouncements.
Tanko made the remarks while responding to The Punch on the issue of interim government after the military, speaking through the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, in Abuja during the biweekly update with journalists on Armed Forces of Nigeria operations, condemned the clamour for an interim government by those unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election, stating that the ING was illegal and unconstitutional.
“The military is not the court of law. They are making their assertion on what they think they know. The military is a respected institution. So, I know that they will respect the position of the law when pronouncements are being made.
“We at LP are law-abiding citizens who have taken their case to court for redress. What we are doing is taking back our mandate that was illegally given to somebody in a legal process.
“All that we have done is to follow the due process of what has been done in our Constitution in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For instance, when the Nigerian people and we decided to go on a peaceful protest, it is our own right. Therefore, we have not done anything contrary to the Constitution of Nigeria,” he stated.
Also speaking, Obi’s media aide, Tai Obasi, urged the military to stick to its defence role instead of striving to interpret the Constitution for Nigerians.
While warning that the LP would not succumb to subtle intimidation and bullying, Obasi disclosed that the party and Obi would not relent until they reclaimed their ‘stolen mandate.’
He stated, “Everybody seems to be politically inclined now. It is a system to do whatever is necessary to assist whoever they want to assist in swearing-in as president for the next four years. It is not in the position of the military to define our constitution or whatever it says.
“Their (Military) duty is defence. They are meant to intervene whenever they are called upon. It is not for them to start telling us what they think is in the Constitution. The Constitution shall be defended by the court when there is a logjam. Not by any other person or institution.
‘’The LP has dutifully and obediently gone to court. It is left for INEC, Senator Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima to respond and the court processes to start.’’
Warning the military against dabbling in politics, Obasi added, “The military should therefore not jump the gun. It will be very unfortunate and unfair for the DHQ to start releasing intimidating statements. If the target is to intimidate and bully people whose only lawful route to recover their stolen mandate, it won’t work.’’
