The African Democratic Congress has hit back at the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress over the “AK-47 fire” remark by its chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, with the Presidential Campaign Council calling on the police, the Department of State Services and the Independent National Electoral Commission to investigate the remark.
The state chapter of the party also replied to Tenebe, saying it would rely on Permanent Voter Cards to challenge the ruling party in the 2027 elections.
In a viral video, Tenebe, while addressing an APC gathering in Edo State, referred to “General Purpose Machine Gun power” and subsequently declared “AK-47 fire” against anyone who stood in the way of the party’s plan to secure 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
The remark has drawn criticism from opposition figures and civil society groups, with calls for security agencies to establish the context and intention behind it.
Reacting, the ADC PCC, in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, issued in Abuja on Sunday, described the statement as “inciting” and “terroristic” and accused the APC chairman of attempting to intimidate voters ahead of the 2027 elections.
“We are shocked that a state chairman of a ruling party, Mr Jarrett Tenebe, can stand before the public and threaten Nigerians with AK-47 rifles if they refuse to vote for his party, the APC.
“This is terrorism, and not politics. This is the height of desperation by a party that has failed Nigerians woefully,” he said.
Ologbondiyan said the ADC PCC had expected the APC leadership and President Tinubu to condemn the statement or demand its retraction but had yet to see such a response.
He alleged that the remark had heightened concerns over the conduct of the 2027 election campaign, particularly as political parties intensify mobilisation across the country.
The ADC PCC urged the Inspector-General of Police, the DSS Director-General and INEC to invite Tenebe for questioning and determine whether his remarks constituted a threat, incitement or any other violation of Nigerian law.
Ologbondiyan said the council believed that the 2027 election should be decided through the ballot rather than intimidation.
He said the election would be “a referendum” on the performance of the APC-led administration, adding that political threats should not prevent Nigerians from exercising their constitutional right to vote.
Ologbondiyan also appealed to the international community, including the United Nations, European Union, African Union, ECOWAS and the United States, to monitor political developments ahead of the 2027 elections.
He urged the Federal Government and political parties to ensure that the electoral process remained peaceful, credible and free from intimidation.
The council also raised concern over the reported attack on its members in Gegu, Koton Karfi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
It alleged that party supporters were attacked and vehicles belonging to ADC members were damaged during the incident. Also reacting, the Edo State ADC said it would not succumb to threats, intimidation and political blackmail by the APC, noting that it was mobilising Nigerians to vote out the ruling party in the 2027 general elections.
At an enlarged senatorial meeting involving ward, local government and senatorial leaders in Ewohimi, Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State, where candidates for the state and National Assembly elections in Edo Central Senatorial District were formally unveiled on Saturday, the opposition party said it was prepared to challenge what it called the maladministration of the APC-led governments through the ballot, declaring that the people’s votes would defeat any attempt at electoral manipulation.
Edo ADC chairman, Tony Alile, said no amount of threats would discourage voters from exercising their constitutional rights, insisting that the party would defend democracy through the ballot.
“Nobody can discourage or stop voters from coming out to exercise their franchise. It is their civic responsibility, and it is not in our constitution that a private citizen can brandish a machine gun or AK-47.
“I believe the law enforcement agencies have also seen the video and, at the appropriate time, they will invite him for questioning,” he added.
Alile, who received defectors into the ADC, urged residents of Edo State to use their PVCs to express their dissatisfaction with the APC administration.
“The weapon ADC has is 200 times bigger and smarter than the AK-47 the other man mentioned, and that weapon is called the PVC.
“If you are tired of the hunger and suffering in the land, I don’t need to tell you to use your PVC as your weapon against this government that has no heart,” he added.
He urged party leaders at the ward and unit levels to intensify mobilisation, stressing that victory in 2027 would require collective commitment and an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Also speaking, a former governorship aspirant and party stalwart, Kenneth Imasuaghon, who represented the party’s national leader and former Edo State Governor, Prof. Oserhiemen Osunbor, expressed confidence that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would emerge as Nigeria’s next president.
He said: “ADC will win the 2027 election and Atiku Abubakar will be the next president because the APC has failed Nigerians.
“Nigerians are tired of the suffering, tired of poor road infrastructure and tired of insecurity. It took me over five hours to travel from Benin to my Ewohimi village, a journey that formerly took 45 minutes.”
Imasuaghon, who described the turnout at the meeting as evidence of growing public dissatisfaction with the APC, said it was unacceptable for any government to inflict hardship on the people.
Taking a swipe at Tenebe, he said, “What we have is not guns. They have said they have the AK-47, but we have the people. With our PVCs, APC will be sent packing.
“If they think they can rig the election, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Nigerians will be ready to defend democracy and their votes.”
On the political battle in Edo Central, Imasuaghon predicted defeat for Governor Monday Okpebholo and dismissed the APC’s projected 2.5 million votes for Tinubu as a political smokescreen.
“In Edo Central, I can tell you that Okpebholo will be defeated because the people are with us. The 2.5 million votes promised Tinubu is a smokescreen. We want Tinubu to know that Okpebholo is deceiving the President. Nobody can rig the election,” he said.