The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has knocked the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, over his recent comments in the United States of America on the just-concluded general election.

This was contained in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Chief Sola Ebiseni, on Wednesday in Akure, the Ondo State capital. The statement was titled, ‘Lai Mohammed on the 2023 elections and the burden of democracy’.

Ebiseni said contrary to what the minister claimed, the election was not free and fair.

The statement read, “It is most disheartening that Nigeria, the most populous black nation, is bedevilled with some of the men in the present Buhari administration whose actions continue to diminish the image of the country. It is more appalling that they unashamedly chose the foreign land for their macabre dance.

“Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information falls in this unenviable class with his current visits and interviews in the United States of America to taint sacred facts about the 2023 presidential election.

“Whereas the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the glare of the whole world admitted the failures of the statutorily prescribed components of the electoral process, Lai Mohammed falsely stated that ‘the just concluded general elections in Nigeria is the fairest, most transparent and authentic in the history of Nigeria’, before an audience that knows the truth to the contrary and have so expressed in their editorials.

“It is certainly not true as Lai Mohammed claimed that ‘under our laws today, management of election results is manual’, the ruling of the court ‘that INEC has the exclusive right to determine the mode of election, its collation and transmission’ only compels the commission to act in tandem with its electoral guidelines to that effect.

“The minister lied when he claimed that ‘the President ensured that nobody used the security agencies to rig the election in his favour but created level-playing ground for the election’.

“The truth is that the security agencies in many states not only worked for the ruling party, government and its security arms watched in acquiescence as leaders of armed thugs boastfully threatened citizens with mayhem which they freely carried out as if we are in a state of nature.

“Rather than tout the loss of the home states of some of his party leaders to the opposition as proof of fair election, Lai Mohammed should have been courageous enough to ascribe the feat to the vigilance of the people and why they incurred the wrath of organised and armed hired thugs in the elections.”