By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
With nine months to Nigeria’s general election, the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) has alleged that it is privy to the various schemes being put in place clandestinely by the powers that be to limit Obi’s freedom ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
In a press statement made available to the media on Monday in Abuja by Ibragim Umar,
POMR Spokesman, the Media Office said it is alerting members of the public and international community of various surreptitious schemes to limit Obi, who was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election’s freedom and deny him access to the Nigerian people.
The press statement of the Media Office read: “The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) wishes to alert members of the public and indeed international democratic watchers of various surreptitious schemes to limit his freedom and deny him access to the Nigerian people.
The Media office is privy to the various schemes being put in place clandestinely to limit Obi’s freedom.
Already there have been recent and recurring reports of Peter Obi being prevented from speaking at public institutions, specifically focusing on the recent cancellation of his lecture at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and similar incidents at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and other public institutions.
This worrisome development is not an isolated administrative hiccup; but a symptom of a deepening democratic malaise. This incident follows a disturbing pattern occurring over 10 times in recent months—where public institutions, including his alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), have revoked platforms for the presidential aspirant at the eleventh hour.
It’s a well-established fact that Universities are, by definition, the “marketplace of ideas.” Intended to be sanctuaries for critical thinking, rigorous debate, and the free exchange of perspectives, but in an attempt to suppress our principal’s, public institutions are succumbing to external political pressures and intimidation.
In the words of Obi himself, “such occurrences now point to a troubling pattern that should concern all well-meaning Nigerians”. POMR would want to reiterate that Universities and other public institutions of learning must remain platforms where ideas can be shared freely without restriction.”
The irony is stark that while Mr Obi has been welcomed to speak freely at notable global centres of excellence—including Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, and Yale—within his own country, the doors of public learning are increasingly being bolted. This disparity raises a critical question: What is the state of a nation that fears the dialogue of its own citizens within its own halls of learning?
We like to therefore call upon the administrative heads of public institutions and the relevant governing bodies to resist political intimidation and uphold the sanctity of academic freedom. A country that silences its thinkers and its leaders within its ivory towers is a country that risks intellectual and social stagnation.
We stand for an open Nigeria where the “force of argument” always supersedes the “argument of force.”
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