The recent warning by the Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, to the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, against visiting the state without his permission is, to say the least, reprehensible. The remarks, dripping with veiled threats, smack of a cavalier rant from a chief executive obviously inebriated with power.
No wonder the governor got a wide roasting for the impolitic warning. In a video that has now gone viral, the All Progressives Congress(APC) governor was speaking penultimate Friday, July 18, at a political rally in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of the state, where he declared that Obi’s recent visit to Edo State triggered unrest and must not be repeated without his approval.
“This message is for the man who claims he has no ‘shishi’,” Governor Okpebholo had stated, a disguised reference to Obi’s popular avowal about his spartan life.
“There’s a new sheriff in town. He cannot just come into Edo without informing me. His security will not be guaranteed. If anything happens to him here, he will have himself to blame. I’m not joking.”
Okpebholo had alleged that Obi’s visit to St. Philomena Hospital School of Nursing Sciences on June 7, where he donated N15 million for the completion of projects in the school, coincided with the resurgence of violence and the killing of three persons.
He said: “That man who says he has no ‘shishi’ came and dropped N15 million. Where did he get it from? After he left, three people were killed. For this reason, Obi must not come to Edo without security clearance.”
Okpebholo’s warning to the former Anambra State governor, with its political underpinning, appears to be a sign of an emerging ruling party’s incipient intolerance against opposition politicians with a view to trammeling them. The Edo incident is the second time in four months that an APC governor would issue such a warning to Obi, who is one of the major drivers of a coalition against APC administration in the momentous buildup to the 2027 general elections.
The former Anambra State governor was impelled to cancel a humanitarian outreach he had planned for Benue State in April in the wake of the orgy of mindless killings that overtook the North Central state, after the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, had warned him against visiting the state without official clearance.
Edo governor’s indiscretion against Obi is clearly unconstitutional and ultra vires.
Constitutional provisions give every Nigerian the latitude to visit, move freely and reside in any part of the federation. Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees those rights. And no gubernatorial pronouncement can vitiate those rights under whatever guise.
That Section 41(1) of the Constitution unambiguously provides: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.”
Expectedly, Governor Okpebholo’s disguised threat against Obi stirred a pervasive obloquy from civil society groups, lawyers, political figures, among others.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kunle Edun, who reacted via a statement, described the governor’s comment as a violation of his oath of office and a gross misrepresentation of constitutional authority.
He said: “The social media is replete with a viral video of the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, allegedly addressing a crowd of his supporters in Benin City. The governor was reportedly seen threatening Mr. Peter Obi… not to enter Edo State without his permission.
“All governors are, by virtue of their constitutional powers, the chief security officers of their respective states and are enjoined to ensure that lives and properties are protected, as this is the primary responsibility of government.
“Mr Peter Obi is a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has the constitutional right to move, reside in and visit any place in Nigeria. That right is guaranteed by the provisions of Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution. It is only the Constitution or a law validly passed that can restrict the movement of a citizen—not the pronouncement of a governor.”
Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, in his own terse reaction, described the threat as dangerous and unconstitutional.
He posted on his X(formerly Twitter): “For the avoidance of doubt, every Nigerian citizen has a constitutional right to free movement to any part of the country.”
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), through its National Publicity Secretary, Peter Ahmed, described the governor’s remarks as a veiled death threat.
He said: “Okpebholo’s recorded remarks, warning Obi not to ‘dare’ enter Edo State without his permission and stating that his security ‘is not guaranteed,’ constitute a veiled death threat against a law-abiding citizen exercising his constitutional rights.”
CUPP added that the comments violate Section 41 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of movement and residence across the country.
The Obidient Movement, a political support network for Obi, said Governor Okpebholo should be held responsible if any harm befalls the former LP presidential candidate.
“The threats must not be taken lightly. Governor Okpebholo, like other governors, is the chief security officer of his state. His words carry consequences,” the group said.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, averred that the threat against Obi issued by the “new sheriff in town” in Edo State, constitutes a violation of Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples (Ratification and Enforcement) which guarantee the fundamental rights of every citizen to life.
He said: “In view of Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government, Governor Okpebholo should withdraw the threat, apologise publicly to Mr. Peter Obi and assure him of the safety of his life in Edo State.
“However, if Governor Okpebholo does not withdraw the illegal threat because of sheer arrogance of raw power, Mr. Peter Obi should proceed to file an application in the Benin Judicial Division of the Federal High Court to secure the enforcement of his fundamental right to life. Mr. Obi should act with utmost urgency in view of the prevalence of mob justice and other forms of extrajudicial killings in the country.”
Obi himself, in his reaction while interacting with newsmen in Awka, Anambra State capital, dismissed the governor’s warning, saying threats mean nothing to him.
He said: “Threats don’t make any meaning to me. I receive threats every day. Do you know how many times I have been threatened all over Nigeria? I receive threats every day actually. The ones you know about were because it was vocal, but I will not be afraid.
“If I have the opportunity to go to Benin and make donations again, trust me, I will. I have always said that we should de-emphasize politics and think more of how to invest in the people. I went to Benin to invest in people because if they have good doctors, good nurses, they will have a better life.”
But Obi expressed disappointment over Okpebholo’s stance, suggesting that the Edo governor should have shown appreciation instead of hostility.
“What the governor should have done is to compliment what I was doing in his state instead of threatening me. He should be sincerely grateful,” Obi said.
However, in spite of the backlash that his statement generated, Okpebholo remains adamant. He insisted at the commissioning of the New Edo Line Transport Company in the state capital, Benin-city, last Tuesday that Obi must inform him any time he wishes to visit the state. He clarified that his warning was never a threat but an advice and a protocol requirement.
He clarified: “What I said was not a threat. It was an advice for his own good. As chief security officer, I’m responsible for the safety of everyone in Edo, including visitors.”
Citing a past security incident, Okpebholo recalled: “I lost a security detail during Obaseki’s tenure after being attacked at Benin Airport. That is why I issued that advisory. As chief security officer, it’s a basic protocol. If he (Obi) chooses not to take it, that’s his decision. And if asking him to notify me is considered a crime, so be it. I have no regrets.”
The governor has an ally in the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who described the governor’s statement as a legitimate concern for Obi’s safety, rather than a threat.
Wike, who attended the same event with Okpebholo, recalled his own experience as Rivers State governor: “As a former governor, when Peter Obi was coming to my state, he informed me. I provided logistics and vehicles for him. At that level, if something happens during such a visit, the governor will be held responsible.”
He added that public figures should avoid politicising the matter. “So, governor, you are right. You didn’t say, ‘Don’t come.’ You only said, ‘inform me.’ That is your duty as the chief security officer of the state.”
Okpebholo’s claim that his responsibility as the state chief security officer includes ensuring the safety of everyone, including visitors, is reiterating the obvious. It is his constitutional duty as the governor. But we fail to see how that responsibility necessitates Obi’s compulsion to notify him any time he wishes to visit Edo State.
We pose: Is Obi the only ‘very important personality’(VIP) of his calibre who visits Edo State from time to time? How many others has His Excellency warned to seek official permission before visiting?
Therefore, Okpebholo’s sermonisation, we surmise, is more of sheer chicanery and a veiled attempt to cock a snook at Obi. It is all barefaced politics! The grapevine hints that Obi actually won Edo State in the 2023 presidential election. So, the powers-that-be are obviously getting uncomfortable with the ex-presidential candidate’s shrewd moves on the state’s political landscape in the gradual buildup to another major election lest history repeats itself!
Okpebholo and his co-travellers in APC should, we admonish, learn to be more tolerant of opposition figures by stopping the incipient and dangerous game of witch-hunting or muzzling them in whatever guise as the 2027 momentum gathers steam. Opposition is the elixir of a vibrant democracy because it acts as checks to the ruling party and keeps it on its toes. They should let opposition thrive.
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