Soyinka: Moghalu apologizes over choice of words against Peter Obi’s supporters ‘Obidients’

Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has apologized for his choice of words in support of Professor Wole Soyinka.

He admitted that his choice of words may not be the best and may appear harsh, hence the need for apologies.

Moghalu previously described Nobel laureate Professor Soyinka as a global fighter for justice. While praising Soyinka’s principles, Moghalu stated that the Nobel Laureate may not be easily understood by lazy social media users.

The former CBN Deputy Governor spoke in light of Soyinka’s recent submissions on the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, particularly those involving Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.

In recent interviews, Soyinka disclosed that before the election he reached out to Peter Obi three times and told him what could make him lose the elections.

He claimed that he told the LP’s presidential candidate that if he lost the election, it would be the fault of the Obidients.

Soyinka also chastised the Labour Party’s (LP) vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, for his outburst in a recent television interview.

In an interview with Channels TV, Datti stated that the country has no president-elect and urged the judiciary and President Muhammadu Buhari to oppose the inauguration of Bola Tinubu as President on May 29.

Baba-Ahmed also claimed that if Tinubu is sworn in, he will lead an unconstitutional government because the APC candidate has not met the legal requirements.

However, in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, Soyinka stated that Baba-Ahmed’s entire comments during the interview were deplorable, adding that statements contained fascistic language.

He characterized Baba-Ahmed’s remarks as a “do-or-die attitude and provocation” that runs counter to democratic principles, emphasizing that he has no right to threaten the judiciary.

The Nobel laureate stated that the LP vice-presidential candidate’s attempt to “dictate to the supreme arbiter of the nation” was unacceptable.

The submissions have drawn criticism for Soyinka, particularly from Labour Party supporters known colloquially as obidients.

Moghalu, who shared his thoughts on the matter, backed Soyinka, saying he would survive all of the attacks because he is always objective.

He went on to say that Soyinka had survived worse situations, including dictatorships, and that he would survive this one as well while describing the obidients as “uncultured and unlettered.”

However, following the criticism that followed his statement, Moghalu stated on Friday that he needed to apologize for his choice of words.

In my tweet yesterday on Prof. Wole Soyinka’s comment on Datti Baba-Ahmed’s own comments about the 2023 presidential election, I said WS is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply, he wrote on Twitter.

I want to apologize for the phrase in quotation marks which, on second thought, can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections.

That was not my intention. While we all bear responsibility for the words we choose to use (and I have the utmost respect for Prof Soyinka and Dr. Datti-Ahmed), I caution again, however, that there will always be different voices with different beliefs in a democracy.

These voices are not illegitimate simply because we disagree with them or they do not agree either with our political preferences or with whatever manner in which we choose to express our views. This applies across the board to the supporters of all the leading candidates.

This is a difficult time for our country, but I hope we can still be civil and measured even as we may disagree.