Festus Keyamo’s petition to DSS baseless, says LP PCC

The Chief Spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, has described the allegations in the petition sent to the Department of State Services by his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress PCC, Festus Keyamo, as “baseless.”

Tanko’s reaction is coming hours after Keyamo wrote to the DSS accusing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, of making incendiary comments that are capable of causing a rebellion against the Federal Government and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Among other things, the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity also alleged that Obi recruited young social media influencers to post inciting messages to create post-election panic among Nigerians.

Further efforts by The PUNCH to make Keyamo validate the claims were unsuccessful.

In particular, he refused to mention the name and exact location of the hotel where the social media influencers were allegedly camped in Abuja.

Instead, Keyamo insisted that such sensitive details were meant for security agents instead of being leaked in the media.

Reacting in a chat with our correspondent, Tanko knocked the minister who he said avoided coming clean with issues of national concern despite his claim of being a “patriotic citizen.”

While denying that Datti called for insurrection or committed any treasonable act, the LP campaign spokesman however noted that Obi’s running mate was a free man, entitled to his fundamental right to freedom of expression.

He said, “Keyamo is just making baseless accusations. He’s a known rabble-rouser who doesn’t want to lose political relevance before his paymaster. He is a political paperweight, who has achieved nothing as a minister except … to rile up the polity on social media.

“Datti is a free citizen of this country and entitled to his fundamental right of Freedom of Expression. He never called for insurrection or any act envisaging treason.

“The fact that Keyamo talked about healing means Nigeria is sick. That means he recognised that the February 25 presidential election which announced his principal as the President-elect and the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls were marred with rigging, high-level violence, voter suppression and intimidation.”