By Judith Nwachukwu
A Human Rights Lawyer, Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor has
warned that nothing untoward must happen to the Presidential Candidate of
Nigeria Democratic Party(NDC) Mr Peter Obi ahead the 2027 general elections.
Barr Ejiofor in a statement on Saturday expressed
worry over the apprehension of the NDC presidential candidate about his
personal safety and whether he would remain alive until the 2027 election.
The legal luminary said that Mr Obi's statement
ought not to be dismissed as ordinary campaign rhetorics, adding that it should
trouble every discerning Nigerian, regardless of political party, ethnic
affiliation, religious persuasion or preferred candidate.
"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 mobilisation
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 organisations and observers of the electoral process.
"And herein lies the danger.
Politics is a contest for the consent of the
people; it is not a licence to barricade the people from hearing the
alternatives before them.
"A governor may support whichever
presidential candidate he or she chooses. A political party may mobilise its
supporters for its candidate. Political competition is constitutionally
contemplated and democratically legitimate. But the authority of public office
cannot, without lawful justification, become an instrument for denying
political opponents access to the electorate.
"The Constitution does not contemplate a
Nigeria in which citizens must obtain political permission from the incumbent
political establishment before they may hear an opposition candidate....."
He asserted
Ejiofor insisted that a nation as diverse as
Nigeria cannot afford to turn political disagreement into ethnic suspicion and
ethnic suspicion into political hostility.
We have seen enough of history to know that words
can become weapons long before weapons are fired.
He appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
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.
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