The Edo State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, has accused Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, of hypocrisy and disregard for lawful protocol.
Ohonbamu’s remarks come after Obi’s recent visit to Edo State, which the commissioner claimed violated security protocols and stirred unnecessary controversy.
Ohonbamu cited a past incident in 2013 where Obi, as the former Anambra State governor, allegedly detained former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for 48 hours in Anambra State.
The Commissioner said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“Protocol is standard practice, and Peter Obi knows this. He enforced it with brutal efficiency when he was governor,” Ohonbamu said.
He further argued that Obi’s visit to Edo State on July 7, which coincided with a police warning against gatherings, was a violation of security protocols.
“When he visited Edo on 7 July, it was the day the police warned that people should not gather, and Peter Obi violated that order,” Ohonbamu said
He also alleged that Obi’s visit led to a stampede in the state, resulting in at least three deaths.
“Intelligence reports confirmed it, two people died in the hospital. They were rushed there. Many of these things we don’t alert the public about,” he said.
However, Labour Party’s Nana Kazaure described Governor Monday Okpebholo’s conduct as a violation of Obi’s constitutional rights.
“It’s an infringement on his fundamental rights as provided in Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution,” Kazaure said.
Meanwhile, Governor Okpebholo denied issuing any threat, insisting his comments were misinterpreted.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, said that Obi’s visit came at a time of rising insecurity in the state, especially attacks on religious leaders.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has urged the Edo governor to withdraw his statement and apologise.
The Labour Party caucus in the Senate also condemned Okpebholo’s remarks, calling them “executive rascality and abuse of office”.
