2027 and rising culture of threats           By Emeka Omeihe (Published in The Nation newspapers Monday 14/9/26)

2027 and rising culture of threats

By Emeka Omeihe (Published in The Nation newspapers Monday 14/9/26)

The constitutional rights of citizens to move freely and reside in any part of the country are increasingly being put to test by certain actions and utterances from politicians.

If serious measures are not taken to stem the dangerous tide, the situation could get even worse with the 2027 electioneering campaigns around the corner. In the last two months or so, the polity has witnessed a spate of threats and incendiary statements from politicians seeking to further one political objective or the other.

These weighty and potentially explosive utterances do not only run at variance with the rules of democratic engagement but are capable of eroding its very foundation. In all these attempts to abridge the rights of citizens, the law enforcement agencies have curiously remained tepid.

When responsible public functionaries make statements that threaten public peace or organise mobs to obstruct the movement of citizens, there should be arrests, investigation and prosecution to deter prospective offenders.

But for a few instances, that has not been the case with the rising culture of threats, obstruction of private movements and incendiary statements from politicians. The increase in the phenomenon has a direct link with the inability of law enforcement agencies to apprehend and punish such offenders.

That was what exactly played out recently when the Kuje Area Council Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory, Samuel Shekwolo reportedly asked residents of the council area who do not support his party to leave ahead of the 2027 elections. He was forced by mounting criticisms to claim that he was quoted out of context. That claim did not impress anyone given that his initial threat as captured in a trending video was, “I have said in my area council that it’s either you are for the APC or you leave the area council” The threat is unambiguous, its context very clear.

Yet, it is not public knowledge that he was either arrested or questioned by the law enforcement agencies. Shekwolo definitely went beyond his powers and cannot deny any citizen either the right to reside in any place of his choice or the political party of his choice. That is how bad the culture of political intolerance has become.

Threats of this nature carry serious weight and deep meaning. They reinforce the culture of intolerance and adversary politics that has reduced elections in this clime to the verity of a warfare where even the most ignoble and reprehensive practices thrive. Democracy will find it herculean to grow and endure in the face of this cultural dissonance

There was also the threat from the Ebony state Governor, Francis Nwifuru to sack council chairmen who fail to win their councils in the coming general elections. Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with any political party seeking to win elections. But a threat of this nature encourages desperation and struggles to win elections by all means.

It is a do-or-die political culture that will do our democracy no good. Good governance and robust campaigns based on issues that touch the lives of the electorate are more valuable in determining the swing of electoral victory. Threats signpost weakness and morbid fear! A government that has the confidence of its people has no need for such threats.

Perhaps, last week’s altercation between the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi and the Benue state government illustrates how degenerating this culture of obstruction and invasion of citizen’s fundamental rights has become. Obi was reported to have travelled to Benue state to visit surviving victims of the Yelwata attacks of 2025. More than 200 defenceless citizens reportedly died in that senseless attack.

Before he set out for the private visit, he wrote the state police commissioner intimating him of his intended visit with a request for security cover. This was promptly provided and his entourage set out for the visit.

But his convoy was blocked by an unruly mob along the Gboko-Makurdi federal highway chanting, “Peter Obi must go back” To avoid any untoward incident, the convoy turned back with Obi unable to accomplish his mission. Curiously, all this happened despite the presence of police officers assigned to escort Obi to Yelwata.

Obi accused the state government of hiring political thugs to obstruct his private movement. Benue state government initially claimed it had no knowledge of or involvement in the incident. But they maintained that Obi and his team failed to follow proper protocol or notify the governor and state authorities of the visit.

Apparently to explain the presence of the youths on the highway that early morning, the state government further claimed that youth mobilisation activities were going on in all the local governments that day. That may well be. But how did those chanting “Obi must go back” come to the knowledge that the presidential candidate of the NDC was in that convoy? Is it not also strange that federal highways have now become the centre-stage for youth mobilisation?

The curious manner the mob fizzled out immediately after Obi’s convoy turned back lends their presence on that road suspect. There is also no record of the purported mobilisation activities across the state apart from the unruly mob at the Gboko-Makurdi highway.

It is difficult to exculpate the Benue state government from that show of shame. Not with the claim of the presence of an aide to the governor who was said to have organised the mob.

The state government gave itself away when it claimed that Obi neither followed protocols nor informed them of his intended visit. This is not entirely correct.

The state police commissioner clarified that he was informed of the visit and he duly provided the needed security cover. It is inconceivable that the chief security officer of the state will not be privy to this information through the appropriate channels of communication. The state government is challenged to tell the public that the commissioner of police did not avail them of that information.

But Benue state and Obi have passed through this troubling route before. When in 2025 he wanted to visit IDP camps in the same state, the state governor refused him access on the grounds that he failed to adhere to protocols by not formally notifying him or other relevant officials.

They also alluded to security risks, a directive banning unauthorised high-profile visits while accusing Obi of seeking to make political capital of the visit.

This time around, the police was duly informed and they provided security cover. The veil on presidential campaigns has also been lifted by the electoral umpire. That empowers presidential candidates to embark on any visit they may so decide including ones that will give them political advantage. There is absolutely nothing in the aborted visit that should warrant the obstruction by the unruly mob.

There is no law requiring politically exposed persons to obtain permission from a sitting governor prior to their visit. Protocol yes! But that is where there is mutual trust and respect between the parties.

The state police command has made arrests of suspected culprits. They should be promptly profiled and made to face the raw teeth of the law. Enough of that rascality

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