{"id":298713,"date":"2026-06-23T20:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/298713\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:03:11","slug":"dangerous-regression-peter-obi-reacts-to-sowores-remand-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/298713\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dangerous regression\u2019: Peter Obi reacts to Sowore’s remand in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MTN<\/a><\/p>\n

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has faulted the remand in prison of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore.<\/p>\n

PREMIUM TIMES reported<\/a> that the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered Mr Sowore\u2019s remand in Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, until Wednesday during scheduled hearing and determination of his motion to stay an order revoking his bail and bench warrant.<\/p>\n

Mr Sowore, who is also an activist and the presidential candidate of African Action Congress, is being prosecuted by the State Security Service for allegedly referring to President Bola Tinubu in an X post as \u201ca criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dangerous regression for democracy\u2019<\/p>\n

Reacting in an X post<\/a> on Tuesday, Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, described Mr Sowore\u2019s remand in prison as a \u201cdangerous regression\u201d for Nigeria\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

The NDC candidate argued that a \u201cthriving democracy\u201d does not survive on the silencing of opposing voices, but anchored on protection of fundamental human rights, especially the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in line with the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

\"PT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, our society is already strained by insecurity and biting economic hardship; therefore, deliberate steps should be taken, even by the courts, to avoid inflaming the situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The politician warned that the judiciary must guard against being weaponised by the government in power to stifle dissent voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the judiciary remains the ultimate arbiter of justice, we must consistently guard against any trend that gives the appearance of state institutions being weaponised to systematically stifle dissent, muzzle the press, or shrink the legitimate space for civic engagement in Nigeria,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Continuing, the former governor said: \u201cWhen we begin to treat citizen critics, activists, and journalists as threats to state survival rather than as partners in building accountability, we signal a dangerous slide toward authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:\u00a0\u2018I won\u2019t retract my words,\u2019 Kenneth Okonkwo replies Peter Obi\u2019s N5bn lawsuit threat\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur current challenges, ranging from economic strain to internal security vulnerabilities, require inclusive dialogue and cohesive nation-building, not the incarceration of those who demand a better society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Obi urged Nigerian authorities to ensure that the rule of law was strictly adhered to, and that Mr Sowore\u2019s constitutional rights were protected to avoid the perception that the country\u2019s security and judicial institutions were partial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot build a New Nigeria if we continue to undermine the very democratic structures meant to protect us all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has faulted the remand in prison of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[45],"tags":[149247,34730,122,23555,1481,45397],"class_list":["post-298713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria","tag-internal-security-vulnerabilities","tag-kuje-prison","tag-nigeria","tag-omoyele-sowore","tag-peter-obi","tag-remand"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116801215077333550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}