The African Democratic Congress has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Kuje Area Council Chairman Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo over remarks in which he was reported to have told residents who would not support the All Progressives Congress to leave the council.
In a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party described the comments as a dangerous form of political intimidation. It also asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to personally clarify his 29 July remark that “all is fair in politics” and to call members of his party to order.
“Let us be clear about what this is: A sitting elected official, in whose custody the safety and welfare of every resident of Kuje has been placed, has publicly tied a citizen’s right to live in his own country to the party that they vote for. That is a threat of forced displacement,” Abdullahi said.
A video circulating this week showed Shekwolo saying, among other things, that it was “either you are doing APC or leave the Area Council.” Amnesty International Nigeria and other groups condemned the remarks. The chairman has since said his statement was taken out of context and was intended as political mobilisation. He has also said he has no authority to disenfranchise or alienate any resident of Kuje, and that the council serves all residents regardless of party affiliation.
The ADC nonetheless urged the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Services to arrest and charge Shekwolo, citing Sections 40, 41 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution on freedom of association, freedom of residence and protection against discrimination.
The party linked the Kuje controversy to remarks attributed to APC Senator Francis Fadahunsi during the Osun governorship election, which the ADC said amounted to a threat of violence against opposition voters. It noted that Fadahunsi was questioned by police but released without charge. “A sitting Senator of the Federal Republic publicly threatened to kill Nigerians over their political choice. He was questioned by the police. He walked away. No charge. No suspension. No consequence,” the party said.
According to the ADC, the absence of consequences in that case could encourage similar language. It also tied both episodes to Tinubu’s 29 July comment to Catholic bishops that “all is fair in politics, and everyone has equal opportunities,” in which the President also said INEC was neutral. Critics have argued that the phrase could be misread by supporters. Others have said it is a familiar political expression and does not amount to a licence for intimidation.
The ADC insisted that only a personal clarification from the President would suffice. “If that is not what the President meant, he should say so himself, and he should say so now,” it said. “Silence at this point is not neutrality. Silence is ratification.”
The party asked the National Peace Committee to intervene before 2027, warning that delay could prove costly. It also demanded that the Fadahunsi matter be reopened, that police, DSS and INEC preserve evidence from both incidents, and that the APC discipline and publicly disown Shekwolo’s reported statement. It wants the chairman to retract the remark and apologise to Kuje residents, and it urged domestic and international election observers to treat the FCT and Osun as early-warning locations.
“Nigerians are not tenants in their own country, holding their residency at the pleasure of a ruling party. We are citizens,” the ADC said.
Neither the Presidency nor the APC had issued a detailed public response to the ADC statement at the time of writing. The Kuje chairman’s clarification remains his public position: that he does not claim the power to expel residents over how they vote.