Kenneth Okonkwo, a prominent opposition figure and former spokesperson for Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign, has vowed to pursue legal action against Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, if he fails to apologize for threatening to bar Obi from entering the state without security clearance.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Okonkwo condemned Okpebholo’s remarks as unconstitutional and “largely illiterate,” questioning how Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, could be deemed a security threat.
“If Edo State Governor Okpebholo doesn’t apologize, I will be on his case. How can Peter Obi pose a security threat to a state?” Okonkwo fumed, accusing the governor of ethnic bigotry and suggesting the threat would not have been made if Obi were from a northern or Yoruba background.
Okonkwo drew parallels to a similar incident in April 2025, when Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia issued a cautionary statement requiring Obi to seek clearance before visiting internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, citing security concerns.
Okonkwo criticized Obi for remaining silent then, urging him to “up his game” and respond decisively to such provocations.
“Peter Obi has to up his game because the Benue State governor did almost the same thing, and Peter Obi kept quiet,” he said, emphasizing that Obi’s silence risks emboldening further attacks on his freedom of movement.
The controversy stems from Okpebholo’s July 18 statement during a rally in Uromi, where he warned Obi against visiting Edo without prior notification, alleging that Obi’s recent donation of ₦15 million to a nursing school in Benin City led to unrest and three deaths.
Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, later clarified that the governor’s remarks were a security advisory, not a threat, citing Obi’s alleged detention of Nasir El-Rufai in Anambra in 2013 as a precedent.
However, Okonkwo and Obi’s supporters, including the Obidient Movement, have dismissed these claims as falsehoods, with Obi’s 2023 campaign spokesman Yunusa Tanko asserting that the 2013 detention was orchestrated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), not Obi.
The backlash has been swift, with human rights lawyer Femi Falana and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemning Okpebholo’s remarks as a violation of Obi’s constitutional right to free movement.
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