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Says nobody has right to stop him from visiting any state
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The vice presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwakwanso, has said the blocking of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the NDC in next year’s general polls, from entering Benue State could lead to anarchy.
Obi was on his way to Yelwata to visit families of victims of the June 2025 massacre when some thugs blocked the major highway.
Kwakwanso, who spoke on Tuesday at a summit organised by OKAY, a New Nigeria support group in Abuja, said he was disappointed with the Benue State Government and, by extension, the Federal Government, for taking politics to a different level of bitterness.
He said: “I am very disappointed with the government of Benue Street and of course disappointed with the federal government itself for starting this action, which I believe if not arrested would lead us to anarchy.
“Nigeria needs to be allowed to move freely, especially senior citizens at the level of His Excellency Peter Obi, who is the leading opposition party or leader in this country. But what we are seeing today is a desperation, which many people were expecting.
“The governors will give them the required votes from their states. And all of us believe that the governors across the country, especially the APC governors, have performed well below average and people are not happy with that. And many of them also are relying on the federal government to use security agencies, courts, and so on, to go and write results for them.”
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Kwakwanso said that at this point, “I’m happy to say that the OK Movement and all other support groups that we have, I believe they are well determined to counter that. And that is why I thought I should come here personally to encourage members of this OK group and you, Nigeria, to keep on working, keep on recruiting more members.
“I am sure I have enough experience to do the right thing. And what to do has been explained by the guest speaker and the engineer. So I want to assure you that we are with you 100%. And those who think, the governors especially, who think they can stop us from going to their states, I think they are making a big mistake.”
The former Kano State governor recalled how many governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) extraction were allowed to visit other states unhindered.
He added that rather than intimidating opposition figures, the APC-led Federal Government should change its tactics by providing democratic dividends.
He said: “When we were campaigning for many of them in the last election and the election before then, governors then allowed people to go around. And in fact, what they are doing now is counterproductive for whatever they want to do. They want to win the election.
“I believe they still have a few months. They should change their tactics. They should try and do what they couldn’t do from the date they were sworn in, of course, to this time, so that people can change their mind if possible.
“But as it stands now, it’s difficult to remember any governor, especially in Northern Nigeria, that can win and go back to his seat. Or, I do not think there is anyone who would win under the platform of APC. So, Your Excellency, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank you for accepting to be members of the NDC.”
