Soyinka blames Atiku, Obi for Tinubu’s presidential win

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has attributed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election to the division of the opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).

Soyinka made this assertion in a statement he issued from Stellenbosch, South Africa, where he participated in a dialogue organised by ‘Africa in the World’. He said that the presidential candidates of the PDP and LP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, voluntarily donated the spoils of war to Tinubu by contesting in separate parties.

He said that the ballot tally accurately reflected what happens when a political party splits itself in two, especially so critically close to an election. He added that what promised to be a spectacular contest was transformed into a feast of voluntary donations of the spoils of war.

He advised politicians and their cohorts to learn to take responsibility for the consequences of their choices within democratic options. He also warned against any attempt to invite military intervention in the political process, as currently manifested in some countries in West Africa.