Former Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bala Na\u2019Allah, has warned that the 2027 general election could be one of the most dangerous in Nigeria\u2019s history.\n<\/p>\n
He cited rising political tension, attacks on supporters and inflammatory statements by opposition figures.\n<\/p>\n
Na\u2019Allah gave the warning during an interview on Arise News on Thursday, where he expressed concern over statements suggesting that political disputes would be settled on the streets rather than through the courts.\n<\/p>\n
He specifically cited comments by former Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, who reportedly said the opposition would not go to court over the outcome of the 2027 election but would instead defend its votes on the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have read some statements that are equally not comforting. I have read some people saying, including Dino, who said, \u2018We will not go to court. I have never heard this before in my life. We will not go to court. We will settle it on the street,\u2019\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The former senator said such rhetoric, coming alongside reports of attacks on political supporters and vehicles during early campaign activities, raised concerns about what could happen when the elections eventually hold.\n<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cOne of the things I expect will happen is that the various opposition groups, in their determination to take power from the ruling party, will go to any length to campaign and get votes. And, of course, they may go to certain lengths to say they are going to defend their votes too.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut from the aura of statements I have seen, it\u2019s discomforting enough to say that, at least, I have been around from 1999 to date. We have never seen this kind of situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Na\u2019Allah referenced reports of attacks on vehicles in Kebbi State and alleged attacks on some people in Sokoto, warning that the incidents were troubling because they had occurred at an early stage of political activities.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you have just said Dino said some vehicles were broken into and attacked in Kebbi, and then, of course, in Sokoto, there was this idea that some people equally were attacked.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is at the early stage of the campaign. And if this can happen, then what happens on the day of the election? And that\u2019s why I\u2019m saying it\u2019s going to be a bit dangerous,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n
He, however, said responsibility for preventing violence and ensuring credible elections rested on all political actors, particularly the ruling party and the Federal Government.\n<\/p>\n
According to him, the government has a constitutional responsibility to protect Nigerians and must demonstrate that commitment through its conduct.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe responsibility is on everyone to provide a situation where there will be free, fair and credible elections. But the responsibility is particularly on the ruling party and the government of the day, which has the primary responsibility constitutionally for which it has sworn to protect the people of this country.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd therefore, by its conduct, it must lead by example. And by its conduct, it must be seen to protect everybody in this country,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The former lawmaker also stressed the need for a level playing field for all political parties, arguing that a credible election must allow every candidate and party to campaign freely across the country.\n<\/p>\n
When asked whether he believed the All Progressives Congress was allowing opposition parties to campaign freely, Na\u2019Allah said he was not aware of any directive by the ruling party preventing such activities.\n<\/p>\n
He described reports of attacks in Kebbi and Sokoto as isolated incidents allegedly involving some APC members, while urging those responsible for security in the affected areas to prevent further occurrences.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand where APC has said that should not be done. These conducts are isolated conducts of some APC members, allegedly,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
He cited a campaign activity in Ekiti State, where he said there had been no complaints of attacks on vehicles, adding that those responsible for security in areas where incidents were reported should act to prevent a recurrence.\n<\/p>\n
Na\u2019Allah served as Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate during the eighth National Assembly and represented Kebbi South in the upper chamber.<\/p>\n
He was also a member of the House of Representatives before becoming a senator.\n <\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
Former Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bala Na\u2019Allah, has warned that the 2027 general election could be one of the most dangerous in Nigeria\u2019s history. He cited rising political tension,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}