The Benue State Government has accused the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, of breaching protocol with his visit to the state on Tuesday.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Solomon Lorpev, who stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, said that Governor Hyacinth Alia was not officially notified about the visit by Obi.
“First of all, I want to lay aside the claim that the government sent people to go and stop him from coming into town; that’s because we are not even officially aware that he is coming into town,” he said.
“And on one of the stations yesterday, the governorship candidate of the party in the state said that Peter Obi had chosen to ignore informing the government of Benue State that he was coming because he did not see the relevance of informing the government of Benue State that he was coming into town.”
Lorpev argued that it was strange that the former governor would not make his plan to visit Benue known to the state governor.
“That’s quite strange because, for a man of his calibre, two times a governor of a state, this is the second time that he is contesting for the presidency; that kind of person becomes the responsibility of the state as far as security is concerned when he gets into the state,” he said.
“So to choose not to inform the state government that he was coming is a breach of protocol because anything that happens around him, the government is not aware, we don’t know all of that.”
When reminded that Section 41 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees every Nigerian the freedom of movement and that a letter was written by the NDC to the police about the planned visit, the commissioner said it was risky for a prominent person like Obi to visit a state without notifying the state government.
He argued that the police do not hold brief for Governor Alia, who is the chief security officer.
The commissioner also challenged those claiming that government appointees were among those who prevented Obi from moving within the state to provide evidence.
But I want this to be clear: the government did not send anybody to stop Peter Obi from coming into Benue; we are not responsible for that, and we cannot just make statements on things we don’t know.
“And I said it clearly yesterday that whatever happened, we are investigating, and when we investigate and discover that this was what went on, we will come out with a clear statement and make that known,” he added.
Youths suspected to be loyalists of one of the political parties were reported to have mounted roadblocks on the two-lane Makurdi-Gboko federal highway, preventing Obi from passing through to Yelewata where he was billed to meet and commiserate with victims of the June 2025 attacks.
The NDC presidential candidate was said to have arrived at the Makurdi airport located at the Tactical Air Command Makurdi on Tuesday morning, and was received by the governorship candidate of the party, Terhemba Shija, along with party officials amid jubilation and cultural dance performance.
But trouble reportedly started a few meters away from the airport when Obi’s convoy ran into a roadblock on the two-lane Makurdi-Gboko federal highway by angry youths.
The blockade led to traffic congestion as the road was closed to all users.
Obi, while reacting to the incident, cautioned youths against yielding themselves as instruments of violence to the very people who created the poor conditions to which they have been subjected.
“Our experience this morning is very, very worrisome. We arrived Makurdi at 9 a.m., but on our way to the Yelewata community, to console and show solidarity with the family affected by the killings of over 270 persons in that community, and support them in any way I can, only to be blocked by thugs shouting, ‘Peter Obi go back!. Peter Obi go back!’”
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