Former 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly condemned the attack on former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, at his country home in Rivers State.
In a statement shared on his X handle on Monday, Obi warned that Nigeria must not slide into what he described as a democracy driven by political thuggery.
According to him, the country is drifting into a dangerous era where violence and intimidation are increasingly used to silence opposition voices and weaken democratic participation.
He noted that the recent attack on Amaechi, whom he described as a prominent opposition figure, as well as the assault on his supporters during a political event, reflects the worsening state of Nigeria’s democratic system.
Obi also decried the attack on Amaechi’s convoy in Rivers State, the alleged burning of offices belonging to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the disruption of political meetings across the country, describing them as disturbing developments.
Obi further warned that the failure to arrest and prosecute those responsible for such actions poses a serious threat to democracy and encourages lawlessness.
“If we do not confront this troubling trend with unwavering resolve, citizens will feel compelled to take matters into their own hands simply to exercise their democratic rights.
“Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while political actors are endangered simply for expressing themselves, organizing, or attending meetings. A nation where thugs dictate who can gather, speak, or campaign is not practicing democracy; it is careening toward a brutal regime of political thuggery, aided and abetted by those in power.
“We must unequivocally reject this descent into a democracy of thuggery. Nigerians deserve a political environment organized through competency, capacity, compassion,and commitment to the good of society, not one controlled by incompetence and thuggery.
“Democracy must be defined by the rule of law, accountability, competence, and the unrestricted participation of citizens in shaping their nation’s future through political actions,” he wrote.
