Abaribe warns Okpebholo over Obi visit threat

Abaribe

Former Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has raised alarm over what he described as a constitutional violation and a direct threat by Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, to a Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.

Abaribe, who currently chairs the South East Senate Caucus, issued a stern warning to Okpebholo for allegedly placing movement restrictions on Obi.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom, the lawmaker expressed concern over what he termed the “unconstitutional overreach” by Okpebholo.

“It is very unfortunate that it seems our dear country is fast descending into lawlessness with this mindset, and I pray that nothing happens to Mr Peter Obi,” he warned

According to Abaribe, the governor lacked the legal authority to prevent any Nigerian citizen from entering or moving freely within Edo State.

“Nigeria is still a constitutional democracy where the rights of everyone, particularly citizens of Nigeria, are guaranteed,” Abaribe stated.

“It is, therefore, disheartening that leaders who are supposedly the custodians of the letter and spirit of the 1999 constitution as amended would decide to willfully be at the driving seat of its denigration in the name of politics,” he added. Punch