Olumide Akpata is the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Edo State in 2024. In this interview, Akpata, who joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) a few weeks ago, speaks on the reason he joined Mr. Peter Obi in the coalition party. The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), expresses displeasure over the spate of attacks on opposition by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), especially the attack on Edo State secretariat of ADC, among others. JOY ANIGBOGU brings the excerpts:

You decided to leave the Labour Party, and then the attack on the secretariat of the ADC in Benin, with all those gunshots and throwing of chairs and all of that, you just said, OK, no problem. How did you do it? The government said the violence is not from the opposition. It’s due to disagreements within the ADC itself.

Personally, I still believe that a new Nigeria is possible. And in this journey, we have co-travelers, we have persons that we work with, that we have continued to sojourn with in this journey to that new Nigeria that we consider to be possible. And after quite a bit of introspection, some of us who belong to the Labour Party in Edo State decided that it would make sense to go with our leader, Mr. Peter Obi, who moved to the ADC on the 31st of December 2025, so that we can continue to work towards this new Nigeria that we believe is possible. I like to keep things to the basics. I like to simplify issues. What has been the experience of the Nigerian? What is the citizenship experience of the Nigerian after well over 10 years of the APC being in power? What has been the experience? In my own experience as a Nigerian, it has been less than optimal. And I see in the ADC some co-travelers, particularly Mr. Peter Obi, who I think believes in the same thing and hopefully we can move Nigeria towards that destination where we think the average Nigerian will begin to enjoy being a Nigerian. That is really the motivation for me, which is why not just myself, but quite a number of us in the groups that belong to the Labour Party took the decision. We weren’t taking lightly jumping from one political party to the other. I never thought that is what it would turn out to be in this political journey. I’m not really a fan of jumping from one place to the other. With regard to what happened on that particular day, the event, which is the movement of some of us to the ADC. The meeting was fixed for 11 o’clock. It started at about 1 o’clock. We got intel from reliable sources that the venue, the secretariat of the ADC on Ogunilaka Street in Benin, would come under attack. So we were told to speed up our event. So we tried to move as quickly as we could. Then we left the premises and proceeded to Chief Oyegun’s house in the GRA. When we got to Chief Oyegun’s house, we were told that as soon as we left Ogunilaka, the place was attacked. Indeed, I had cousins and friends who had come with me. Some of them were injured. A particular cousin, she had a bottle smashed on her head. I have first-hand information regarding what happened that day. We were informed about this when we were at Chief Oyegun’s residence. And while we were still trying to mull over what the implications were, we were right outside his front door, taking pictures and discussing. We saw some guys driving past the house and started shooting. So it’s a bit of a distance from the front door to the gates. It’s a driveway. But the shooting was so intense that the DSS men who were there with us had to push them back into the sitting room. And we were there for another 20 minutes until these assailants had fled the scene. And then we went outside to inspect the damage, all the cars were heavily damaged. If there were people sitting in those cars, there’s no doubt in my mind that they would have died. And you could see the gates, you could see the bullet piercings and all of that. So that’s what happened on that day. It was quite sad. With regard to your point about the Edo State government stating that it was an intra-party thing, I don’t buy that. I don’t think many people would buy that. The issues that were taking place at the ADC just a day before involved persons who I know personally, who would not resort to getting armed men to come to the heart of GRA in the afternoon to start firing guns. What I think, is that it is just a message being sent to the electorate. That’s a very dangerous message. That you participate in this process at the risk of your life and death. So, you’re better off staying at home. What happened in Edo was an attack on democracy. Because what you find is that people become reluctant to participate. Yesterday, some of my associates called me. After the process of moving to ADC, you have to follow through by going to your ward to actually register and eventually get a card. So, some of my associates called me and said, we went to Ward 2. This particular individual was a lawyer. I can give you his name and number so your people in Benin can talk to him. We went to Ward 2, ADC, to join them at what was usually their weekly meeting so we could register. The chairman was visibly petrified, visibly afraid. He refused to open the premises up for the usual meeting. You can understand that. Because if Chief Oyegun’s house is not safe, what do you expect? Chief Oyegun’s house is next to Chief Igbinedion’s house, next to the Brigade Commander’s house, and can be attacked. Who is safe here?

Has a formal report been filed with the police?

Yes, a formal report was made.

What has the response been? Because if you’re saying that the people that had a rambling the day before, are not persons that are capable of doing that. So who are the people capable of doing what you said? Based on eye witness, since you said your cousins were there, what were the assailants saying?

So, to your last point, the report that I got from my cousin was that anybody wearing the ADC cap was attacked. On that day, ADC caps were distributed, anybody wearing the ADC cap was attacked and insulted.

What kind of insult?

It was a case of, are you not afraid? “You no dey fear? That’s the information I got. Try and make us see, that kind of thing. So, they would seize the cap from them and then hit them with whatever weapon they had. One particular person had a gun, but he didn’t shoot at the person, he shot to the ground and then some pellets or whatever hit this particular person. It was obvious to everybody that their offence was that they were participating in an ADC event. So, when you ask me who the people are, there are only two players in this game, it is the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition. You understand what I mean? And so for me, we say, the inescapable, ineluctable conclusion is that the ruling party is sending a message to the opposition that opposition will not be tolerated. It’s unfortunate.

ADC experienced this hostility in other parts where they have gone to meet, because this is not the first destination, so what was different about Benin City, Edo State?

If you remember when Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour was also going to move to the ADC, the same thing happened. He had to move from location to location, he was frustrated, his venues were attacked when he tried to move. I have been informed of another incident in Kaduna, the same thing happened to the ADC candidate. So, I don’t think it’s a one-off, I don’t think it’s a stand-alone, it’s just that in Edo, because of the recent happenings in Edo, where violence would appear to have become the norm, violence would seem to have returned to centre stage. So, focus is on Edo, because as you know, foreign ambassadors were attacked at the museum recently, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki was publicly humiliated on the streets of Benin. So, we’re in the press for the wrong reasons. So, for me personally, on that morning, I took it upon myself to call the police commissioner, spoke to him on the phone, I said, we’re having this meeting, and he says, everyone is free to have a meeting, I said, yes, commissioner, but remember, this same building was attacked, ADC secretary was attacked a couple of weeks ago, and some people attempted to burn it down. So, I said, I think the Conventional Rule suggests that we should take extra precaution because of the people who will be there. He said, okay, he has heard me. So, I didn’t see any police presence there on that day, but the ADC state chapter chairman has made a formal complaint, and we’re waiting. I haven’t been to Benin in a couple of days, so I don’t know if the police have actually called anybody, I would have to call to find out what’s going on.

The governor of Edo State, you guys run against each other, you talk, right?

Not necessarily.

You don’t have his number?

I don’t, we don’t necessarily talk. When we meet, we exchange pleasantries.

But, he can get and reach across to you and say, oh, sorry, or what happened. Has he reached out personally, like a person to person relationship? The governor of the state, the person that’s supposed to be the chief security officer. The same person that had threatened before…

Not on this occasion, when I lost my father, in fairness to him, he did call me, to commiserate with me, so he has ways of reaching me. On this occasion. No, he hasn’t called me. I was told that the governor said that this incident was intra-party, ADC, I’m told that he said that, I didn’t listen to that. And I felt that was a bit premature. I felt that wasn’t exactly the right way to approach it. What I expected to hear from him was that we’re going to get to the bottom of this. And we’re going to deal with whoever is responsible for this. Except he has proof. You don’t make assumptions, or you don’t conjecture based on what you saw on TV the day before, except he has proof. And if he does have proof, he should come out with the proof.

That’s his party’s talking point. Because the first person that put that talking point out there was Jared Tenebe, the state chair of the party. He was the one who said it’s an intra-party thing, and it was about Rowland Owie and all of them….

I joined the party a few days ago, but I was told the day before, there was a disagreement about a meeting. One gentleman is 84 years old, the other one is 87. Senator Rowland Owie, I know him, he was in the House of Representatives in 1979, I know him personally, Chief Oyegun is like a father to me. I find it ridiculous to assert that because those two gentlemen had a disagreement regarding who is to attend a meeting or not, they would now resort to conscripting men, thugs and all that, to take guns and come to the GRA. Remember, Senator Owie attended the event at the secretariat. He was right there.

Let me now talk about party matters. This coalition of ADC that you joined, is like a coalition of jokers, and I’ll tell you why. It was after they had signed the electoral law that they just came out to the press conference eight days after. And I questioned, what have they been doing all this while? And to my mind, you don’t look like a serious opposition. They don’t look like a serious opposition. There is no proper, concise research department that even gives us an empirical challenge of ideas that gives us research. We are not seeing a lot of the activities out there. We are not seeing engagements. What are the core issues facing Nigerians? This is ADCs’ view on them. They are not proactive. It looks as though to me that everybody there is thinking of the primaries. So, what is the prospect at a time when Nigerians are yearning for viable opposition? From what I see, it’s just a pantomime.

When you get a group like that, a disparate group like that, when they come together, it will take time.

APC did a way better job of doing the coming together.

Integration issues can be difficult. Which is why some of us decided, rather than be on the outside and hope that things will work themselves out, come as much as possible and add value to the effort and see how we can help to move things along quickly. There’s frankly no time. So, most of us have come in, because you have friends who have the same persuasion, who have joined, just to say, okay, let’s put muscle to this thing and get rid of all of this. Huge egos are on the table, so sometimes it’s very difficult to get them to align. But I think it’s a work in progress. And there’s a sliver of hope.

Now you’ve gone to the ADC. Are you planning to run for governor? Before that, if your political leader, Mr. Peter Obi, doesn’t get the ticket of the ADC, are you and your lifelines going to move from the ADC? And where will you go? Will you go back to the Labour Party? And then, finally, what do you think of this new timetable that INEC has announced, relying on adjustments, further adjustments to the Electoral Act?

Governorship in Edo is off-cycle, 2028. When that time comes, we will cross that bridge. I think it is clear that 2028 will be fully dependent on what happens in 2027. So I have put that in abeyance for now. I’m just thinking of Project Nigeria. Let me do my best to see what we can do. Some have even asked me, will you run for Senate? I’m not running. In 2027, we are going to work as much as we can. There is still quite a bit to be done in terms of just organising. Some of us have certain skills that I think we can bring to bear on the process. Those of us who have come in with him, are hoping that once he subjects himself to the process, he’ll get the ticket. However, I’m not the type of person who will say, my way or the highway. Democracy just doesn’t work like that. I’m not the type of person who will say, if it doesn’t work for me, the way I want, I will throw away the billion. I think we will work very hard towards democracy. And in the event that, if it is not achieved, then we will take it from there and see what is the next best thing. The law is the law. I think he’s compelled to respect what is now the law. My only concern is, I saw the INEC chairman at the National Assembly defending his almost N1 trillion budget the other day. I just hope they’ll be funded. If the presidential election is in January, you and I know that there are many hoops that we must jump through to get to that point. Without funding, INEC really can’t do much.