Former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, has berated the Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, over his recent remarks warning Peter Obi not to enter the state without security clearance.
Describing the governor’s action as “executive rascality taken too far”, Wabara cautioned that such utterances are not only unconstitutional but also capable of stoking ethnic tensions and threatening national unity.
Governor Okpebholo, during a recent outburst, had said, “If Peter Obi wants to come here, he should seek proper security clearance. We cannot guarantee his safety otherwise. If anything happens to him here, he will have himself to blame. I’m not joking.”
Reacting through a statement on Wednesday, Senator Wabara condemned the threat in strong terms, stating that no state governor has the constitutional authority to restrict the movement of any Nigerian citizen.
He said, “In case the Governor has forgotten, let me kindly remind him that Section 41 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: ‘Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.’
“It therefore smacks of executive impunity, power intoxication, political insanity and gross abuse of office for an elected Governor to exhibit such raw intolerable dictatorial tendency.
“Okpebholo’s threat is a shameful exhibition of his ignorance about the limits of his powers as Governor. Or could it be an advertisement of his limited knowledge of the provisions of the constitution apparently because of his manifest academic hollowness and ineptitude?”
The elder statesman further questioned whether the governor’s actions stemmed from “academic hollowness and ineptitude” or a deliberate abuse of power.
Wabara did not stop at condemnation. He demanded an immediate and unreserved public apology from Governor Okpebholo to Peter Obi, along with a formal guarantee of his safety within Edo State.
He further stated, “It’s regrettable that Gov. Okpebholo who should know better, having served in the Senate, has grossly violated the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He should, without delay, publicly apologise to Obi for the threat to his life.
“Public office holders should be civil, decorous and refrain from irresponsible vituperations capable of setting Nigeria on fire. They should be catalysts of national unity and cohesion, and not promoters of acts that widen the gaps in our fault lines.”
The former Senate President also took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing it of increasingly suppressing opposition voices and pushing Nigeria toward a one-party state.
He recalled a similar incident in which Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, issued a warning to Obi, and urged President Bola Tinubu to “call his governors to order.”
“Public office holders should be civil, decorous, and refrain from irresponsible vituperations capable of setting Nigeria on fire,” he said.
Wabara further warned against the ethnic profiling of Nigerians, saying it poses grave danger to peace and stability.
He cautioned, “Nobody should push this country to the brink through political overzealousness. The peace and stability of this country should be placed above political interests.”