Our faltering first step

By Egena Sunday Ode

I woke up this week with a knot in my stomach. Not because of the usual headlines about fuel prices or power cuts. It was an ominous signal, one that told me the 2027 electioneering has already begun in the worst way possible: with threats, not manifestos.

It is barely 14 days since INEC officially lifted the ban on public campaigns for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections on August 19, 2026. The law says parties have 150 days before polling day to sell their ideas. But what we are getting is different.

So far, only President Tinubu and, by extension, the APC have begun to put structures in place. The opposition parties — ADC, NDC, SDP and others whose voices have been loud in criticizing this government — are yet to name their campaign teams. That silence is being filled, unfortunately, not with policy, but with provocation.

And I am worried.

The first spark was in Kuje. A video that went viral last week showed the Chairman of Kuje Area Council in the FCT, Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo, addressing residents. His words were blunt: “I have said in my area council, it’s either you’re doing APC or leave the area council. I am not arguing with you”.

He justified it by citing the development projects of President Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. “I cannot have the President and minister doing what they are doing, and on the day of election, you will want to match me. It’s either you are with us, or you are out”.

Amnesty International immediately called it “a direct threat to lives and an attack on freedom of association and liberty of persons”. They urged security agencies to ensure Shekwolo “face justice for these reckless and irresponsible threats”.

The chairman later backtracked, saying the remarks were made at an APC youths meeting and were “taken out of context”. He admitted that he has “no right to disenfranchise any resident”. But the damage was done already. The video is still circulating.

The second spark? Last weekend, another video emerged. This time from Maiduguri. The Borno State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Sainna Buba, was speaking at the inauguration of the Tinubu City Boy Movement, a support group campaigning for the President’s anticipated 2027 re-election bid.

His warning was graphic: “Whoever shows us a finger, we are ready to cut off his fingers,” he said. “We are now playing politics. Whoever shows us a finger, we will show him a finger… Whoever dares to show us a finger again, we will break his finger”.

He went further: “The government is our government. Those who follow us will enjoy the honey; if you refuse, then you will be flogged”.

Buba later told journalists the statement was “figurative” and was directed at APC members involved in anti-party activities, not opposition members. He said those who vote APC will be “fed with honey, while those who don’t will be caned”.

I am particularly miffed by this Borno statement. Borno has bled for nearly two decades under insurgency. The state and its people have paid the highest price for our collective failure to secure the Northeast. To now hear a serving commissioner threaten to break fingers over political choice feels like pouring petrol on old burns. The state cannot afford another war, even a rhetorical one, under the guise of politicking.

But you know that these two incidents did not happen in a vacuum. Just weeks ago, Senator Francis Fadahunsi of Osun East was summoned by police over a viral video in which he was heard in Yoruba saying, “From now on, whenever you see Accord members, kill them. I authorise you to kill them”.

He later clarified that he meant “kill them with votes” and that the comment was “purely political and metaphorical”. The Osun State Government even went to court seeking an order to compel police to investigate him. At the end of the day, Osun did not only count votes. It counted bodies. Local reports suggested that no fewer than 60 persons died before the conclusion of the election. In fact, the state government is already taking steps to compensate the families of the deceased.

Then there was Sheikh Muhammad Sani Yahaya Jingir, National Chairman of JIBWIS. At an event in Kano, he renewed his advocacy for a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket and urged Muslims to vote in a way that demonstrates they are more populous. He said, “There is no liar that can say he will do politics of Christianity and win the election”.

His remarks drew condemnation from Christian leaders and human rights lawyers who warned it could deepen religious divisions. Jingir later said it was his “personal opinion” and not JIBWIS’ position.

You can see clearly that each time, the pattern is the same: an inflammatory statement, public outrage, then a clarification that it was “metaphorical” or “personal.” Meanwhile, the embers keep glowing.

I am writing this as a Nigerian who has lived through elections that ended in celebration and elections that ended in funerals. We have signed peace accords. Candidates and parties committed to violence-free campaigning just days ago. Yet here we are, with public officials using their platforms to threaten citizens.

Come to think of it, every part of this country is already carrying too much. The Northeast is grappling with insurgency. The Northwest with banditry. The North Central with farmer-herder clashes. The Southeast with separatist agitations. The Southwest with kidnappings. These have triggered widespread criminality and put citizens and security agencies on edge every day.

Is this really the time to be fishing in troubled waters? Households are already stretched beyond elastic limits by the economy. Food is expensive. Jobs are scarce. The Naira is under pressure. People are not asking for miracles, they are asking for peace and a chance to vote without fear.

What Shekwolo and Buba said strikes at the heart of that. The right to live in Kuje or Maiduguri cannot be tied to party membership. The right to choose who governs you is constitutional. Sections 40, 41 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution guarantee freedom of association, movement and from discrimination. No council chairman, no commissioner, no senator, not even a governor is above that.

But something troubles me further. It is the silence from party hierarchies. As at the time of this writing, there has been no official rebuttal either from the individuals or from their parties regarding the Kuje and Borno comments. They have merely tried to rationalize. But leadership is about drawing red lines.

When a public official threatens residents, the party must speak first and speak clearly. Otherwise, silence becomes endorsement. And endorsement becomes culture.

The ADC has already demanded Shekwolo’s immediate arrest, calling his remark “a threat of forced displacement”. They also linked the tone to President Tinubu’s July 29 comment that “all is fair in politics” and asked the President to call his party to order. Whether you agree with ADC or not, their point stands: someone has to say “this is not how we do politics here.”

There is an African proverb for this moment. Igede people have a saying: an evil bird that cries at the backyard should be immediately stoned. It sounds harsh. But it means that small evils, if ignored, grow into big ones.

These inciting and provocative utterances are that evil bird crying at the backyard of our democracy. If we wait until 2027 to respond, we may find ourselves issuing condolences instead of appeals.

We need to nip them in the bud. Now. I mean right now.

And how do we do that? Security agencies must act decisively in a manner that serves as deterrence. Political parties must also sanction their own. While the ruling APC should rein in their members and supporters, the opposition must resist the temptation to match rhetoric with rhetoric.

Most importantly, we citizens must refuse to normalize this. When we share these videos with laughter, when we say “na politics,” we lower the bar. Politics is not war. It is a competition of ideas.

This is my fear: 2027 is still months away. If the opening act is threats, what will the closing act look like?

Nigerians are tired of violence. We have seen what it costs. In Borno, in Zamfara, in Benue, in Imo and in Plateau. We know the price of “us versus them.”

President Tinubu was elected on the promise of renewed hope and structural reforms. Those reforms will mean nothing if people are afraid to vote. Vice President Shettima comes from Borno. He knows what insecurity does to a people. This is the moment to show that governance, not intimidation, is the APC’s answer.

Opposition, hear me: organize. Name your campaign teams. Sell your alternative. Criticism without structure cedes the ground to loud voices.

Public officials, listen: you were elected to serve everyone in your jurisdiction, not just those who voted for you. Kuje’s chairman won with 17,269 votes, while 20,000 did not vote for him. He still has a responsibility to them.

I do not want to write another column in 2027 mourning lives lost because someone felt entitled to dictate how others should vote.

Let us treat these early provocations the way we should treat any fire: with water, not with more fire. Let us call them out, investigate them, and isolate the people who think democracy is about coercion.

Nigeria cannot afford another internal crisis under the guise of politicking. Not now. Not with everything else we are carrying.

The campaign season has started. Let it be about roads, schools, hospitals, security, and jobs. Let it be about who has the best plan, not who has the loudest threat.

If we allow the embers to spread, we will all burn.