One of the political associations awaiting registration as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), I Love Nigeria (ILN), has reacted to the threat against the former presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, by the Edo state governor Monday Okpebholo.
Okpebholo had threatened that Obi’s security was not guaranteed in Edo state unless Obi informed him before coming to state.
But reacting to Okpebholo’s uncharitable threat, ILN said his actions did not bespeak of the Constitution he swore to protect.
Protem National Chairman of ILN, Chief John Nwobodo, in a statement, said that Okpebholo had thus ridiculed not only himself but his office.
The statement reads: “The Edo governor’s threat to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, coupled with the audacity and impunity with which it was made reminds one of the stone age when life was described to short, nasty and brutish.
“I must say that Governor Okpebholo has brought contempt and ridicule upon himself and office.
“His statement is only a demonstration of the arrogance of power, which can only happen where wrong actions are committed without consequences.
“Okpebolo’s statement is unsupported in law. Conversely, his statement is an affront to the Constitution, which he swore to protect. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended guarantees right to freedom of movement, freedom of association, and assembly.
“The governor’s threat has the effect of trampling upon these rights and freedoms. Nigeria is a country governed by law and not by whims and caprices of any individual, no matter how highly placed.
“There is no law that requires any Nigerian whether highly placed or of low profile to notify a sitting Governor or seek his permission before he can exercise his constitutional freedom of movement, association, and assembly.
“Although these rights are not absolute but the circumstances under which they can be derogated or departed from were not present in the Obi’s case. One might not be wrong to feel that Okpebholo’s unguarded outburst was politically motivated and aimed at intimidating and frightening Obi perhaps to demarket his popularity.
“Governor Okpebholo went to the extreme. It is shocking that when he had an opportunity to make amends, he did not do so but rather reiterated his threat saying he had no regrets and that if telling Obi to notify him before he visits Edo is a crime let it be so. I would describe the governor’s threat as empty and without any weight whatsoever. he said.