Group warns Abia Governor against intimidating political opponents

Abia Freedom Alliance (AFA), an association of concerned Abia technocrats, professionals, businessmen and religious leaders, has called on the governor of Abia State, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, to desist from intimidating political opponents in the state.

The group made the call following a RELIABLESOURCENG.COM report that the governor instructed the Abia Signage Agency (ABSA) to pull down a Labour Party (LP) flex banner on a billboard at Obikabia Junction in Obingwa Local Government Area.

Mrs. Victoria Onwubiko, a Labour Party candidate for Obingwa West, Abia State House Assembly, in the 2023 election, had in a statement made available to RELIABLESOURCENG.COM on Wednesday, recounted how Governor Ikpeazu ordered the removal of the party banner, which had her image and that of Labour Party governorship candidate, Dr Alex Otti.

AFA, in a statement issued Friday by its spokesman Prince Okey Kanu, warned Governor Ikpeazu and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to desist from further intimidating political opponents, especially as Abia and the country in general prepare for the 2023 general elections.

The group said Abia people were no longer fazed by the lawlessness of the governor and his party, warning that no one individual or group has monopoly of violence, as Abians will resist every attempt to continue to subjugate them.

“For the records, it must be stated that the picture of Dr Alex Otti, the Labour Party Governorship candidate for Abia State was on the subject billboard with that of Mrs. Onwubiko.

“Even if we concede some modicum of doubt as regards the involvement of the state Governor in the wanton destruction of the billboard, until proven otherwise, we are left with no choice than to believe he ordered the removal of the billboard because of his mortal fear and hatred for Dr Alex Otti, who had remained the most prominent opposition voice in the state.

READ: Abia Governor orders removal of Labour Party billboard banner

“We equally believe that most discerning members of the public do not need to dig deep to know the likely motives of the Governor in this matter. For the avoidance of doubt and to set the records straight, Dr Alex Otti has been resolute in calling out the Governor over his poor governance credentials in the past seven years of his misrule.

“It therefore, comes as no surprise that the real target of the malicious order to pull down the Labour Party billboard is Dr Alex Otti, who has undoubtedly become the Achilles heel of both the PDP and its leadership in Abia state.

“It’s necessary to inform the PDP leadership in Abia state that Abians are no longer fazed by their usual antics during election season. Fresh in the minds of Abians is the obscenely diabolical act of the PDP and their foot soldiers carrying coffins around the major streets of Aba and other parts of the state, in 2015, to intimidate and harass innocent and law-abiding members of the public. It was that bad in the past. But, Abians have grown wiser and would not capitulate to such antics of political scam artists and jobbers during the upcoming elections and in the future.

“We believe it’s quite provocative and infra dig for the Governor to have issued such an order that is capable of leading to a breakdown of law and order if the offended party were to react in equal measure. As the chief security officer of the state, duty, decorum and the overriding security dictates of his exalted office demand no less from the Governor.

“We wish to remind the PDP apparatchik in Abia state that no one person or group has the monopoly of violence. Abians have been pushed to the wall and would no longer tolerate the strong-arm tactics of the PDP to keep Abians in perpetual state of deprivation, poverty, and disease. Abians are resolute to call the bluff of the PDP and to hold every one of their leaders accountable for any act of thuggery and violence perpetrated during the electioneering campaigns,” AFA declared in the statement.

The group called on the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police and other relevant security agencies in the state to hold Governor Ikpeazu and his party, PDP, to account, in case of any breakdown of law and order in the state, as a result of the unprovoked attack on Mrs. Onwubiko.

It further asked the General Manager of the Abia Signage Agency to write an “unreserved letter of apology” to Mrs Onwubiko, for the pain and embarrassment the agency had caused her, saying, “That is the least they can do to save face for the governor and government of Abia state”.