- Okonkwo said the threat is a direct attack on Igbo people, adding that it reeks of tribalism and bigotry.
Former spokesman for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Kenneth Okonkwo, has said Edo State Governor Monday Okpebolo, cannot declare a Yoruba or Hausa politician persona non grata in the state.
The governor had, during a political event last Friday, warned Obi not to visit Edo without security clearance, adding that if he enters the state without his permission, he won’t be liable for his security.
Reacting to the governor’s remarks, Okonkwo said the threat is a direct attack on Igbo people, adding that it reeks of tribalism and bigotry.
Speaking when he featured on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme on Monday, the veteran actor said Okpebholo would not issue the threat if Obi were to be a leader from Hausa or Yoruba land.
He said: “Now let me come in from the point of being a citizen from Igbo extraction. I sense tribalistic, cheap ethnic bigotry in this governor. If Peter Obi were to be a leader from Hausaland or from Yorubaland, this governor would not then make such a statement.
“Recall when 16 persons were killed in Edo state before even making any investigation, he ran to Kano state to prostrate. That was a good thing, because life is very, very essential. The same governor who did that is the same governor who is threatening the life of a human being for just coming into your state.
“This is very annoying. It’s a direct threat to Igbo people. It’s a direct threat and exhibition of being an Igbo hater, and that should stop let me tell you from where I come from when you kill even a madman, that’s when you know that he has a brother if a strand of hair falls from Peter Obi… because this is a direct attack and threat to his life.”