The silence of the federal government to this condemnable act is scandalous
By CHEKWAS OKORIE*
On Thursday, 12th March, 2026, l wrote an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu titled “Halt the brewing anarchy in Nigeria”. In that letter, I drew the attention of the president to inciting, provocative, hateful, and incendiary rhetoric and actions of some of his prominent aides capable of heating up the polity. I reminded the president that the country was restive with several flashpoints arising from existential challenges the average Nigerian and families were already facing, which could trigger a conflagration of unimaginable proportion if not properly managed.
It is unfortunate that between the month of March and now when that letter was widely circulated and published events have occurred in rapid succession that tend to present the highlights of the open letter as prophetic:
1. The governor of Edo State, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, without any provocation, warned Mr Peter Obi when he was still a member of the African Democratic Congress, not to ever visit Edo State without his express permission in his own interest. Nigerians were alarmed at such a brazen threat to a prominent Nigerian. Mr Peter Obi visited Edo State on an invitation to commission the new secretariat of the ADC. Some hoodlums attacked the venue of the event with a barrage of gunshots. Luckily, their target Mr Peter Obi was not hurt.
2. At other times, some overzealous supporters of the president, namely, Mr Sunday Igboho and Mr M. C. Oluomo, threatened at different fora that Mr Peter Obi and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must not contemplate to campaign anywhere in the South-West of Nigeria during the presidential campaigns.
3. A certain Sheik Sani Yahaya Jingir addressed a large gathering in Kano in the presence of two serving governors, including governor of Kano State Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, where he blatantly and arrogantly ordered anybody opposed to the Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket for the 2027 presidential election to leave Nigeria. He claimed that Nigeria belongs to Muslims.
4. Recently, minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike addressed a press conference where he declared with impunity that he assigned to himself the responsibility to inflict high blood pressure on Mr Peter Obi and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
5. In the build-up to the recently concluded Osun governorship election, it was reported that over 50 people were killed in election-related violence in the state.
All these happened in our country without as much as a whimper of intervention, caution, or admonition by the president on whose table the buck stops. Buoyed by the apparent but tacit nod of approval by the presidency, the tactics of intimidation and bullying of opposition politicians by those in power have assumed a frightening and dangerous dimension. This mindset started by some state governments imposing astronomical fees on signage of opposition political parties up to more than N700,000 for a single billboard of a candidate for election in their states. This is the reason the colourful billboards that usually adorn several places in our cities at a time like this are missing.
The despicable and highly provocative forceful blocking of the highway preventing Mr Peter Obi from paying a humanitarian visit to the people of Yelwata in Benue State, who lost over 200 members of their community in a genocidal attack in June this year, is dangerous, to say the least. The silence of the federal government and the National Assembly with regard to this condemnable act is scandalous. All well-meaning Nigerians must rise in unison to condemn this explosive trend, which may turn our country into a killing field in the name of territorial control for the 2027 elections.
*Chief Dr Chekwas Okorie (Ojeozi Ndigbo) is the national chairman, Igbo Agenda Dialogue, IAD.
10/09/2026
