Enyinnaya Abaribe, former Senate Minority Leader and chairman of the South East Senate Caucus, has strongly condemned what he described as a “dangerous and unconstitutional” threat issued against Peter Obi by Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.
In a statement issued on Wednesday through his media adviser, Uchenna Awom, Abaribe said the governor’s reported remarks amounted to “a direct challenge to Nigeria’s unity and a brazen attack on the Constitution.”
According to Abaribe, “This is a dangerous threat to life that the authorities should not gloss over.”
He expressed dismay that a sitting governor would suggest that a Nigerian citizen, including a former governor and presidential candidate, needs permission to visit a part of the country or risk harm.
“So one wonders where the Edo State governor derives his powers to bar a Nigerian citizen from visiting his state unless such a person obtains permission from him—otherwise the person’s security will not be guaranteed,” he queried.
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The senator noted that the right to free movement is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and that no elected official, regardless of political affiliation, has the authority to infringe upon it.
“It is disheartening that leaders who are supposedly the custodians of the letters and spirit of the Constitution would willfully drive its desecration in the name of politics,” Abaribe said.
He warned that such reckless statements by political leaders could deepen national divisions and encourage lawlessness.
“It is very unfortunate that it seems our dear country is fast descending into lawlessness with this mindset, and I pray that nothing happens to Mr Peter Obi,” he said.
Calling for restraint, Abaribe reminded Governor Okpebholo—himself a former senator—that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, and no governor can arrogate to themselves powers not granted by the Constitution.
“The beauty of democracy is made manifest in the expression of freedom to hold divergent views and the freedom of movement of every Nigerian in any part of the Nigerian federation—Edo State inclusive,” he added.
