Nollywood actor and constitutional lawyer, Mr. Kenneth Okonkwo, has criticized Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State over his recent threat to the life of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi.
Okonkwo expressed total disappointment over the governor’s unprovoked threat to Obi, which he described as an insult on the entire Igbo race.
Okonkwo maintained that the governor had no constitutional rights to demand Obi’s request for clearance before visiting Edo State.
He said the governor should be held liable if anything untoward were to happen to Obi.
“When you finish beating a madman, that’s when you know he has people. If a strand of hair falls from Peter Obi, then you will know he has kinsmen. This is a direct attack and threat to his life.
“Remember, the governor made it clear. He said his (Obi’s) security can no longer be guaranteed. He used the word “never” if he does not get permission from him. Let me ask Monday Okpebholo: Does it mean that when he finishes as a governor, before he travels to any state in Nigeria, he would have to seek the permission of all the governors of that state? Does it mean that 200 million Nigerians, before they step into a state, would have to seek permission from the governor?
“The law has even been made clear that you don’t even need permission even when you want to embark on a peaceful protest. If you don’t need permission when you want to embark on a protest, how can a Governor be talking about permission to visit a state? That is offensive. These are the questions. I reject his action with everything that is within me.
” You know, that is what Julius Caesar said in Julius Caesar. He said that we have men above me that are fat, sleek-headed men, such as Monday Okpebholo who has a leaner, hungry look. They think too much of themselves. He said such men are dangerous. I’m telling you, if you go to his office, you will not even see him. He should stop it!”
When asked by one of the anchor persons to moderate his temper and maintain decorum, he thundered:”What decorum has the Governor maintained by threatening the life of a Nigerian citizen?
“What decorum did he maintain by saying what he said?”, enraged Okonkwo fired back.”
The constitutional lawyer vowed to initiate a legal action against the Governor if he failed to tender a public apology to Obi.
“If the Governor does not apologize, I will be on his case”, Okonkwo said.
When reminded that the Chief Press Secretary to the governor had later, in a press statement, claimed that his principal’s words were taken out of context, Okonkwo said the claim was a belated damage control.
“Now, that can tell you how malicious the whole intention is. When the governor was talking, you heard him use such words. He said he (Obi) doesn’t give shish, but he’s giving N15 million.
He said this and that. I want to tell you that they have even added a lie to their misdeed.”
Okonkwo noted that individuals might differ on issues, just as he had sometimes disagreed with Obi, but that does not confer on the Governor the right to infringe on Obi’s fundamental rights.
“Everybody has ones style of doing things. I have my own style. If you disagree with him, as I do at times, leave him to do his own thing, his own way.
He is entitled to his freedom. They are fundamental to him. If you don’t like it, leave him.
“So, if you don’t like the way he does his own things, he’s entitled to it. For me, for instance, I like to do my philanthropic things, largely secret because of my religious belief. However, a politician may decide to do otherwise. That is his own entitlement. And he doesn’t have the right to threaten his life.
“But not to threaten his life? How can you do that! You know that I even quarrel with the way he (Obi) does his own things. But how can he pose a threat to a state?”
Okonkwo, who recalled that Gov. Alia of Benue State had in the past made a similar threat to Obi, urged the former Anambra State Governor to stop overlooking the necessity of challenging the infringement of his rights.
” Obi has to even up his game because the Benue State Governor did almost the same thing and Obi kept quiet. And now this Governor (Okpebholo has repeated it.”
The legal expert further argued that the governor’s claims that Obi should clear with him before visiting Edo State were baseless, insisting that every Nigerian is constitutionally entitled to visit or reside in any part of the country.
“Now they are saying protocol, protocol. What do you mean by protocol? Do you need permission to go to any state? What protocol is it? Does Obi appear to you as a man that can threaten anybody’s life?
“What I am saying is that Obi does not pose any threat to anybody’s life. So he could not have breached any protocol.”
When reminded that the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, Mr. Jared Tenebe, had made worse remarks about Obi than the Governor, Okonkwo declined to react to Tenebe’s comments, as doing so would be a sign of endorsement.
“Sorry, I don’t give credence to people like that. Because they are just seeking relevance. He is as inconsequential as his face looks. Please, next question. What am I going to talk about? APC with their failed state and with their unintelligent people? He is just seeking relevance. Please, next question. “
Okonkwo said the unprovoked threat against Obi was an insult on the entire Igbo race, arguing that the Governor would not have used such words on him, were Obi to come from Hausa or Yoruba tribes.
He expressed fury that the same Governor who raced to Kano to “prostrate before Northern elders” when some alleged Northern hunters were killed in Edo State recently, had the temerity to threaten an innocent man.
“The Governor wouldn’t have tried this with a leader from Hausa or a leader from Yoruba land. And I mean it. The other time Northerners were killed in Edo, he ran to Kano to prostrate.
“I sense tribalism and and ethnic bigotry. The Governor has shown he is an Igbo hater. His threat against Obi was a direct attack against Ndigbo. He is petty and largely intelligent”.
