Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has clarified his position on LGBT persons in Nigeria.
It is to be recalled that shortly after the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, announced Baba-Ahmed as his running mate on 8 July 2022, Nigerians dug up a throwback video of the VP candidate calling for the killing of lesbians and gays.
While making his own contribution during plenary on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 when the anti-gay marriage bill, otherwise known as the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, was being debated in the Upper Chamber, Baba-Ahmed, who was then a senator, opined that such ‘elements’, referring to members of the LGBT community, deserves to be eliminated.
“Actually such elements in the society should be killed,” he said in the throwback video that went viral on social media.
The video caused an uproar on social media as critics chided the politician for his hardline and extremist position on the LGBT community in Nigeria.
Addressing the criticism that trailed the throwback video, Baba-Ahmed in a recent chat with Peoples Gazette said his message was taken out of context, noting that he advocated for the killing of same-sex desires, not persons.
“There is a difference between saying such elements should be killed and saying people should be killed,” he explained.
“Go back to the video and play it from 20 seconds earlier you will see that it was not about killing same-sex people but about killing same-sex desires.”
