The news of the attack on Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, an ADC presidential hopeful and other ADC coalition chieftains in Benin City, Edo State, by yet to be identified hoodlums, came to me as a rude shock. It’s a shocker because Nigerians thought that the era of political hooliganism and thuggery is over in our nation.
It’s very unfortunate that the APC governments at both Edo State and at the national level are returning our democratic experiment to the dark days of political hooliganism, thuggery and assassinations just because they want to hold on to power in 2027. Leaders in a democratic dispensation must derive their mandates from the votes of the electorate not on gun points.
It would be recalled that the governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, last year, warned Mr. Peter Gregory Obi never to come to Edo State without his express approval. Otherwise, he threatened that his (Peter’s) safety would not be guaranteed by him ( the governor). Nigerians thought that it was an empty threat. However, one would not be wrong to assume that the recent assassination attempt on the life of Mr. Peter Obi, at an ADC function, and up to the house of Chief Odigie Oyegun, the former governor of the state, was a fulfilment of the threats of the governor of Edo State against Mr. Peter Obi.
I call on the new Inspector General of Police, the DSS DG and other security operatives to unravel the mystery of this assassination attempt on Peter Obi and bring the culprits to book. This time, it will be dangerous to sweep this act of political hooliganism under the carpets.
I wish to warn APC governments at all levels to desist from all actions that could truncate democracy in Nigeria. The APC-led governments must know that nobody has monopoly of violence. They should not pull our country into undue political crises that will consume all of us. Enough of this unwarranted provocation by APC leaders who know that their time is up in Nigeria. Nigerians are experiencing enough insecurity in their land through insurgency, banditry and youth restiveness. They do not wish to experience any eruption of political hooliganism and violence in any part of Nigeria.
APC leaders must embrace the reality that the ADC coalition is simply a movement by Nigerians to recover their land from the punitive regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And, any attack on any of the ADC coalition leaders is an attack on the entire nation. Enough is enough.
Signed: High Chief Anayo Arinze
Founding member/Pioneer National Publicity Secretary
African Democratic Congress (ADC).
