By Chukwudi Ebele
Human Rights Lawyer and Social Critic Sir Ifeanyichukwu Ejiofor Esq has in his recent article titled ‘EDO ON THE EDGE: OKPEBHOLO’S BLOODY RHETORIC AND THE POLITICAL TIME BOMB BUILDING UNDER TINUBU’S WATCH’ urged the Federal Government and relevant Security agencies to investigate Political threats before political violence becomes a national emergency .
According to Ejiofor, there are moments in the life of a nation when responsible citizens must speak, not because the fire has already consumed the house, but because smoke is unmistakably coming from the roof. Edo State may be approaching such a moment.
“Since assuming office on November 12, 2024, Governor Senator Monday Okpebholo has repeatedly engaged in unusually combative rhetoric against political opponents, particularly in the context of the emerging 2027 political contest. Some of these utterances have generated public controversy and have been interpreted by opposition figures and civil-society actors as threatening, even though the Governor and his administration have, on occasions, rejected that interpretation.
The July 2025 controversy surrounding NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi is instructive. Governor Okpebholo publicly warned Obi not to come to Edo without security clearance. The Governor later maintained that his remarks were about security protocols, not a threat.
But the choice of language from those who wield State power matters.
In April 2026 a senior aide to the Governor, Emmanuel Eghogho, was reported to have appeared in a viral video threatening that opposition figures, including Peter Obi, would be arrested and handed over to the Police for onward transfer to Abuja.
In this viral video, the Edo State Local Government Chairman orders transporters to wear APC caps or face severe sanctions.
In a democracy, words spoken by people close to power can become signals, especially when those words concern the arrest, exclusion, intimidation or suppression of political opponents. And this is precisely why the security agencies must not wait until blood is spilled before they begin asking questions.
Security agencies exist not merely to investigate crimes after they have been committed, but also, within the limits of law, to identify credible threats and prevent violence before it occurs.
What should worry every democrat is not necessarily one particular statement in isolation, but the gradual normalisation of a political atmosphere in which opposition is treated as an enemy rather than an indispensable component of democracy.
An opposition politician is not an enemy combatant.
An opposition voter is not a criminal.
A critic is not a traitor.
And a Governor is not the owner of the State. Government is temporary; the people are permanent. This is why the present political atmosphere in Edo deserves sober attention.
I am particularly concerned that conduct which ought ordinarily to attract institutional scrutiny is increasingly becoming fodder for partisan entertainment. Everybody laughs, applauds and moves on, until the laughter suddenly stops.
That is how political crises often begin.
If there are credible indications that political rhetoric, public threats or activities of political actors and their associates could precipitate violence, the appropriate response is not partisan silence. It is lawful intelligence-gathering, risk assessment, investigation and preventive policing. And this is where the Federal Government, particularly the Presidency, cannot afford complacency.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not wait for political violence to become another national emergency before the Federal Government takes notice.
The Presidency should be interested in the preservation of peace in every State, not because of the political party occupying Government House, but because every Nigerian life is worth protecting.
Edo is not alone in requiring vigilance.
In Ebonyi State, Governor Francis Nwifuru was reported on September 1, 2026, to have told opposition politicians that they would “see real threat at the right time,” while also directing newly inaugurated local government chairmen to work towards maintaining APC control at the grassroots ahead of the 2027 elections, otherwise, they will lose their seats.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot afford a political environment in which threats against opponents become ordinary campaign language.
A democracy survives not merely because elections are conducted, but because citizens remain free to participate without fear.
My greatest concern is not about who wins the next election.
My concern is whether Nigerians will be alive, free and sufficiently secure to participate in it.
The lesson of history is painfully simple: violence rarely announces itself with a gunshot. Sometimes it first arrives as language, repeated, normalised and eventually acted upon.
That is why I respectfully call on the relevant security and constitutional institutions to pay closer attention to the political atmosphere in Edo and other emerging flashpoints, investigate credible threats where necessary, and ensure that no political actor, whether in government or opposition, is permitted to convert political competition into intimidation or violence.
Let every Governor remember that the office he occupies today belongs ultimately to the people.
And let the security agencies remember that prevention is infinitely better than investigating corpses.
The time to douse a political fire is before it becomes an inferno.
For when the keg of gunpowder is already in the marketplace, wisdom dictates that we do not wait for the match to be struck before asking who brought the keg. The time for vigilance is now,” Ejiofor warned.
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