Borno commissioner for poverty alleviation, youth empowerment and sports, Saina Buba, has clarified that his earlier comment about allegedly threatening opposition members in the state was made figuratively.
Buba gave the clarification on Monday during a press briefing in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, following the backlash that greeted his earlier statement.
The commissioner had made the controversial remark on Saturday at a campaign inauguration organised by the City Boy Movement, a political support group backing President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid.
During the event, Buba warned critics against opposing the Babagana Zulum administration, saying politics involves patience, lobbying and enforcement.
“Whoever raises their fingers against us, we will do the same to them. If you raise your fingers again, we will cut them off,” he said in a viral video seen by TheCable on Monday.
‘MY WORDS NOT DIRECTED AT OPPOSITION MEMBERS’
Buba, however, explained that the statement was directed at members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the North-East who attended the event and not opposition members.
According to NAN, the commissioner said his remarks had been misinterpreted to suggest that he was threatening members of opposition parties.
“The meeting was purely APC members gathering, not political parties. It’s a City Boy Movement which was designed to promote economic empowerment, self-reliance, skills development and improved livelihoods, among party loyalists,” he said.
“We in the APC observed that immediately after the party’s primaries, some aggrieved members have started playing anti-party politics, and we felt it’s necessary to call them to order by telling them those who vote for APC candidates will be fed with honey, while those who don’t will be caned.”
Buba explained that the statement was figurative and meant that “our empowerment and other welfare packages will be limited to loyalists, and nothing for those who are engaged in anti-party activities.”
The commissioner said he had no apology for the statement, maintaining that it was directed at a gathering of like-minded APC members who had agreed to remain committed to the party’s ideals.
He added that the public should expect increased attacks from opposition parties as the 2027 election campaign gathers momentum.
“There is no opposition in Borno, as our party will clinch all elective positions in view of numerous people-oriented projects executed by the state and federal governments,” he added.