The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyi Odii, has described as unconstitutional an alleged threat by Governor Francis Nwifuru against local government chairmen who allow opposition parties to campaign in their areas.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Thursday, Odii criticised the governor’s reported directive that local government chairmen who permit political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) to campaign in their areas would be sacked.
According to Odii, the governor’s alleged directive contradicts the constitutional responsibilities of his office, particularly his duty to protect lives and property in the state.
“First of all, I think he was being ungodly. He does not understand the office of governor, what it meant and what it stands for in the constitution,” Odii said.
“If you understand that, what that means is that as a chief security officer, you are charged with responsibility of securing life and properties in your state. So, you now start threatening to interact. For me, I regard it as his panicking. I regard it as maybe he’s jittering.”
The PDP candidate said the governor should not prevent opposition parties from exercising their political rights, arguing that threats against local government chairmen over opposition campaigns were unconstitutional.
“Because for a governor to be issuing threats at his local government chairman, should not allow opposition political parties to campaign in their state. It’s unconstitutional. For me, I regard it as such,” he said.
Odii also alleged that attacks had been carried out against some people in local government areas following the governor’s remarks.
“Even though they started carrying out destruction. Because once a governor has spoken, it means there is authority on it.”
He said his camp had reported its concerns to security agencies and appealed for restraint to prevent further violence.
“So, what we did was, we complained. We laid our complaint to security agencies. We let them know that we should not make this become ungovernable. We talked to our people. So, they don’t take laws into their hands. And that’s what we’ve done,” Odii said.
He maintained that the alleged threats would not deter his political activities, adding that his campaign team was consulting stakeholders across the state.
“For us, we are not at odds. Neither, you know, having any kind of fear. The thing is that we are here to flag up our campaign proper. What we are doing now is door to door campaign. We are moving from consultation to consultation. Consulting the stakeholders. Consulting the market women. The traders, the peasants, farmers. That’s what we are doing at the moment,” he said.
Odii called on the government to address the situation, reiterating his position that the alleged threats against opposition campaigns were unconstitutional.
“Yes, there is threat… and that threat, I believe that the government should be called to order. It’s unconstitutional,” he said.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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