ActionAid Nigeria has condemned an alleged directive by the Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo, that residents must support the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or leave the council, describing the remark as a troubling threat to democratic freedoms, while warning that political intimidation could become normalised ahead of the 2027 elections.
The organisation said an elected public official had a responsibility to serve every resident, irrespective of political affiliation, and should not use public office to pressure citizens into supporting a political party.
Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Dr Andrew Mamedu, said the alleged statement raised fundamental questions about the protection of citizens’ political rights and the responsibility of state institutions to respond consistently to potentially threatening political rhetoric.
“This is deeply concerning. If an elected council chairman openly tells citizens that they must support a political party to continue living in an area under his administration, we must ask what message this sends to citizens who support other political parties or choose not to support any political party at all,” Mamedu said.
He maintained that public office must not become an instrument of “political intimidation, exclusion or coercion.”
ActionAid said its concern went beyond the Kuje incident, arguing that the alleged remark should be viewed against a backdrop of increasingly heated political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Mamedu drew a comparison with the controversy that followed remarks attributed to Senator Francis Fadahunsi of Osun East Senatorial District ahead of the Osun governorship election.
According to ActionAid, a viral video generated allegations that Fadahunsi had called for violence against members of the Accord Party, prompting the Nigeria Police Force to invite him for questioning over statements it considered threatening, inciting and intimidating.
The Senator, however, reportedly disputed the interpretation of his remarks, maintaining that they had been distorted and that his position was to defeat the opposition through the ballot.
Mamedu said the contrasting episodes should serve as a warning to political actors and law-enforcement agencies.
“When, within a matter of weeks, we move from alleged threats against opposition supporters during an election in Osun to an elected chairman telling residents to support his political party or leave his council, we should be worried,” he said.
“These are no longer statements we can afford to treat as isolated political excesses. A dangerous culture of political intimidation is at risk of becoming normalised in Nigeria.”
ActionAid said Nigerians’ political choices were protected by the Constitution and should not be subject to pressure from elected officials.
The organisation specifically cited Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association, and Section 93 of the Electoral Act 2022, which it said prohibits threats intended to compel citizens to support or refrain from supporting a political party or candidate.
It consequently called on the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services and other relevant institutions to investigate the reported remarks and establish whether any law had been breached.
The organisation also urged the APC to publicly make clear to its elected officials and supporters that threats, intimidation and exclusionary political rhetoric were unacceptable.
With political activities intensifying ahead of the 2027 elections, ActionAid urged politicians to compete through policies, records, ideas and concrete solutions to Nigeria’s economic and social challenges rather than through threats or fear.
Mamedu also challenged law-enforcement institutions to demonstrate that political accountability would apply equally to those in government and opposition.
The organisation said failure to maintain such consistency could deepen public distrust and create an environment in which politically motivated intimidation becomes increasingly acceptable.
“Political choice is a right, not a debt owed to those in power,” ActionAid said.
“No Nigerian should ever have to choose between their political freedom and their right to live peacefully and access public services in their own country.”
The allegations against the Kuje council chairman could not be independently established from the statement alone, and Shekwolo was not quoted in the ActionAid release. His response to the allegation would be necessary for a fully balanced account.
