Lawyer and human rights activist, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has raised concerns about the safety of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi. DownloadInteractive Maps

It was reports that the development comes barely 24 hours after Ejiofor raised an alarm concerning his own safety.

Speaking in a statement in Abuja, he said every discerning Nigerian, irrespective of political affiliation, should be worried about Obi’s safety.

Ejiofor, the lead counsel of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), warned that nothing must happen to Obi, and called on President Bola Tinubu to act now by protecting him and the democratic space, saying, “Nigeria must not wait for tragedy before it acts.”

He said, “As I attentively listened to Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 presidential election, speak during a prime-time interview on Arise TV a night ago, I was deeply struck by the gravity of his expressed apprehension about his personal safety and whether he would remain alive until the 2027 election.

“That statement ought not to be dismissed as ordinary campaign rhetoric. It should trouble every discerning Nigerian, regardless of political party, ethnic affiliation, religious persuasion or preferred candidate.

“Indeed, when a presidential candidate publicly expresses uncertainty about his own safety in the period leading to a national election, the appropriate response from every responsible institution should be vigilance, sober inquiry and preventive action, not political mockery, partisan dismissal or the dangerous assumption that nothing serious could possibly happen.

“Recent developments have already created a troubling atmosphere around the 2027 political season. Obi has publicly complained about difficulties faced by opposition politicians seeking to campaign in certain states, while the Benue incident involving the obstruction of his convoy generated competing accounts from him and the state government. The police confirmed that the visit was known and that security personnel were providing protection, although the precise responsibility for the obstruction remained disputed.

“If this were 2023, when the democratic contest enjoyed a considerably broader atmosphere of political mobilization across the country, perhaps some of these developments might have been treated as the usual rough edges of Nigerian politics. But the present circumstances demand greater sobriety.

“Reports of inflammatory political rhetoric, threats and obstruction of opposition activities have already generated concern among civil-society organizations and observers of the electoral process.”

He urged the federal government, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that every presidential candidate is safe.

“It is therefore incumbent upon the Federal Government, security agencies, INEC, political parties and state authorities to ensure that every presidential candidate enjoys the minimum conditions necessary to participate in a peaceful democratic contest, while simultaneously protecting citizens who wish to listen to, support or question such candidates.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as President and Commander-in-Chief, occupies a constitutionally consequential position in this national conversation. The issue should therefore transcend the politics of APC, NDC, ADC, or any other platform. The question is whether the Nigerian state can guarantee a political environment in which no candidate is prevented from reaching voters by intimidation, violence or unlawful obstruction, and no voter is prevented from freely hearing the political alternatives available to the nation.

“For those who may be tempted to think that intimidating an opposition candidate is merely another clever manoeuvre in the game of politics, there is an old lesson: the hand that strikes the drum today may not know whose house the sound will summon tomorrow.

“If anything should happen to Peter Obi-God forbid! the consequences would extend far beyond the individual concerned. It could be disastrous and devastating, never to imagined. It could destabilise an already delicate electoral environment and impose consequences upon the Nigerian state that no political calculation can adequately contain, he added.

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, has announced plans to set up and lead campaign teams for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid in the FCT and Rivers State.

It was reports that Wike made this known on Friday during an inspection of the ongoing Phase Two construction of the Kuje-Gwagwalada road dualization project in Chikuku, Abuja.

The minister said he would personally head the campaign structure in the nation’s capital and his home state, Rivers, as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum.

He said political parties were already reorganizing ahead of the election, adding that supporters of Tinubu from different political platforms had also begun preparing their campaign structures.

He said: “The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), I believe, is putting itself together for an aggressive campaign. For us who are supporting Mr President from different political platforms, we have put our machinery ready to fully kickstart. Very soon, I will inaugurate the campaign team for Tinubu in the FCT and Rivers State, which I will lead. All elements of the APC are ready, Mr President is ready, we are ready and you can see the enthusiasm.

“People are happy, and I don’t know who will contest against Mr President as far as this election is concerned. This is governance, and this is what people expect. It will translate directly into actual votes. It is very obvious. Nobody will be able to claim rigging in the FCT. The ‘rigging’ is the projects we are delivering, making the people happy.

“This is my first time getting to this side of the road, and I can see how highly populated this area is. You can imagine the enthusiasm and happiness on the faces of the people. That is why we say the essence of governance is to make people happy. When the people are happy, those in authority are happy.”

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Key Takeaways

President Bola Tinubu, speaking through House Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, urged Nigerians to give his administration more time to complete its programmes and reforms.

Tinubu delivered the appeal on Friday at a special Juma’at prayer at the National Mosque, Abuja, marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

Abbas said Tinubu assured Nigerians not to lose hope, promising peace and development would return as the government corrects past mistakes and missed opportunities.

President Bola Tinubu has appealed to Nigerians to give his administration more time to complete the programmes and reforms it has embarked upon. NigeriaMarket Research

Tinubu made the appeal on Friday through the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, at a special Juma’at prayer held at the National Mosque in Abuja as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

The President, represented by Abbas at the prayer, urged Nigerians not to lose hope in the country, saying his administration was working to address what he described as the cumulative mistakes and missed opportunities of previous governments.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s 66 years of independence, the President described the country as having reached maturity despite the challenges it had encountered over the years.

Abbas, conveying Tinubu’s message, said, “This anniversary, the 66th, by all accounts signifies Nigeria has come of age. A 66-year-old cannot be called a child anymore. Nigeria has become mature, even though when we reflect on the journey from independence to date, we may say it was a mixed journey.

“Nigeria was bedevilled with a lot of issues in the past and opportunities as well. But we thank Almighty Allah for granting us the life and the peace for us to witness this very historic event today.”

The President urged Nigerians to remain hopeful, assuring them that peace and development would return as the country continued on its democratic path. NigeriaMarket Research

“My message to the country on behalf of the Mr President, the Senate President and all members of the National Assembly is that the citizens should not lose hope.

“Peace is coming back to this country. Development is coming back to this country. Things will get better as we progress in this democracy,” he said.

Tinubu said his administration was focused on correcting what he described as accumulated mistakes and missed opportunities inherited from previous governments.

The President further said Nigerians should consider the direction of his administration as it implements its programmes and reforms. NigeriaMarket Research

He added, “More importantly, citizens should look at the focus of the government of today, that the mistakes of the past—the cumulative mistakes and the missed opportunities of the past are being corrected in this particular administration.

“And I want to categorically make it clear that Nigeria is on the right path; that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that Nigerians have finished making sacrifices for this country to be great again.

“We should give this government more opportunity for it to come back and finish the good work.”

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