POLITICS WITHOUT BARRIERS: OTTI ORDERS UNHINDERED CAMPAIGN ACCESS IN ABIA
By AProf. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
As Nigeria gradually moves deeper into the political season preceding the 2027 general elections, one of the more consequential questions will not simply be who contests, but whether those who contest will be permitted to campaign freely, peacefully and on substantially equal terms.
That question has now moved to the centre of political discussion in Abia State following Governor Alex Otti’s directive to security agencies that political parties should be allowed to carry out lawful political activities and campaigns without obstruction.
The significance lies less in political rhetoric than in the instructions reportedly issued to the institutions that will have responsibility for maintaining public order as electioneering intensifies.
Reporting on the development, The Sun Nigeria, in a story by Okey Sampson published on September 26, 2026, under the headline “Abia: Otti tasks security agencies on 2027 elections,” reported that Otti asked security agencies to ensure a level playing field for political parties conducting lawful political activities in the state.
After the State Security Council meeting, Abia State Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, explained the governor’s instruction in particularly clear terms. According to The Sun, the Commissioner said Otti wanted security agencies to:
«“create a level playing field for all.”»
The Commissioner further disclosed that political parties seeking approval to organise campaigns were to receive “express approval.”
Those words matter.
In democratic politics, the strength of the governing party and the strength of democratic institutions are two different things. Governments naturally seek electoral success. Institutions, however, are expected to administer public authority according to law irrespective of partisan affiliation.
The reported Abia directive therefore raises an important governance test: whether public facilities, security protection and administrative approvals can actually be administered according to publicly applicable rules rather than political preference.
THE PUBLIC FACILITIES QUESTION
The second element of the directive concerns access to stadiums and other publicly controlled facilities.
Retired Navy Commander MacDonald Ubah, Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, was quoted by The Sun as saying political parties wishing to campaign should not be prevented from doing so once they comply with the approved charges governing use of public facilities.
His central formulation was that parties should be:
«“free, without hindrance, to carry out their campaigns.”»
The same statement described the principle as applying “across party lines.”
Independent Newspaper, in its September 26 report by Uche Nwosu, similarly reported that political parties should be permitted to conduct lawful activities without harassment or intimidation, and quoted the Police Commissioner as saying applications for campaign approval should receive express approval.
Earlier reporting on September 25 also carried substantially the same account. InsideOut News, citing a statement from the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, reported that Otti instructed security agencies to create a level playing field and allow qualifying political parties to conduct campaigns.
This consistency across reports is important because it establishes that the central issue is not merely a later newspaper interpretation. It reflects statements attributed directly to the senior security officials who briefed journalists after the meeting.
BUT THERE IS A CAMPAIGN-FEE CONTROVERSY
Any serious examination of the issue must, however, include another development already before the public.
A few days before these assurances of equal access, THISDAY reported on September 21, 2026, that the Allied Peoples Movement presidential candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and his party had instituted legal proceedings challenging what they described as a N200 million campaign/signage fee applicable to presidential campaign advertising in Abia State.
According to the THISDAY report, the plaintiffs argued that the amount was excessive and inconsistent with provisions of the Electoral Act and the principle of a level playing field.
Those remain claims before a court, not judicial findings, and should therefore be described as allegations and legal arguments rather than established violations.
This creates an important distinction in the emerging debate.
The State Security Council directive addresses access to campaign venues, security and lawful political activity. The pending legal challenge concerns, among other things, signage and campaign-related charges.
They are related politically, but they are not necessarily identical legally.
Indeed, THISDAY had reported on September 16 that Abia was among states where substantial political-advertising charges were being imposed, listing N200 million for presidential billboards, N150 million for governorship advertising, N100 million for senatorial advertising, N50 million for House of Representatives advertising and N20 million for House of Assembly advertising.
Accordingly, the eventual practical meaning of “politics without barriers” will depend not merely on statements of equal access but also on whether the administrative and financial rules governing political participation are lawful, transparent and applied uniformly. The pending litigation may contribute to resolving part of that question.
OTTI’S EARLIER POSITION
The security directive is also consistent with comments Otti made during his September 25, 2026 interview on ARISE News.
In reporting the interview, Punch Newspapers stated that Otti distinguished his relationship with President Bola Tinubu’s administration from the question of which presidential candidate he would support electorally.
Otti explained that as a governor and member of the National Economic Council, he participates in federal policy discussions and therefore sees cooperation with the federal administration as part of governance. At the same time, he indicated that his presidential political preference remained connected to his own party.
That distinction is relevant to the Abia campaign-access debate.
A governor may cooperate institutionally with a president from another political tendency while still participating in partisan political competition. Democratic governance requires mechanisms by which those two realities can coexist without public institutions becoming instruments for excluding competitors.
The test is implementation.
SECURITY MUST SERVE THE PROCESS, NOT A PARTY
Election security is ultimately broader than protecting candidates or political rallies.
It involves protecting voters, preserving public order, preventing intimidation, securing venues and enabling lawful assembly irrespective of who controls the government of the day.
The reported instruction from the Abia State Security Council therefore places a practical responsibility on the police and other security institutions.
If one political party is granted lawful access to a public facility under specified rules, another party complying with the same rules should ordinarily expect equivalent treatment.
If approval is required, the process should be predictable.
If fees are charged, their legal basis and applicable schedules should be transparent.
And where disagreement arises, institutions and courts — rather than intimidation or political violence — provide the appropriate means of resolution.
That principle is larger than Governor Otti, the Labour Party, the APC or any individual presidential candidate.
It is an institutional question.
FROM DECLARATION TO IMPLEMENTATION
The Abia government’s public position can therefore be stated relatively simply: security agencies have been instructed to provide political parties with a level playing field; applications to campaign are to receive appropriate approval; and parties complying with applicable conditions for public facilities are not to be obstructed.
What remains to be observed as the campaign season develops is how those instructions operate in practice.
Will opposition parties receive venues when they request them?
Will security protection be applied consistently?
Will administrative rules be applied without partisan distinction?
And will disputed campaign fees withstand legal scrutiny?
These are empirical questions whose answers will emerge from conduct, not political slogans.
The September statements are nevertheless significant because they establish a publicly stated standard against which subsequent actions can be measured.
Abia’s political actors, civil society organisations, the media, electoral institutions and voters can therefore refer back to the commitment: a level playing field, express approval for lawful campaigns, and freedom to campaign without hindrance, subject to lawful requirements.
That creates accountability because public promises become benchmarks.
THE DEMOCRATIC STANDARD
Democracy is tested most seriously not by how a government treats its supporters but by how institutions administer the rights of those seeking to replace it.
The 2027 campaign season will bring contestation, criticism and political disagreement. That is inherent in competitive politics.
The challenge for public institutions is to ensure that disagreement remains lawful and that political competition does not become administrative exclusion.
Otti’s directive has placed the principle of equal campaign access on the public record.
The next stage is implementation.
For Abia, therefore, the issue is no longer merely whether political parties have been told that they may campaign.
It is whether, throughout the journey to 2027, every lawful contestant who meets valid and uniformly applicable requirements can actually enter the political field, speak to the electorate, obtain legitimate security protection and compete without improper obstruction.
That is the practical meaning of politics without barriers.
MEDIA RECORD
The Sun Nigeria
Okey Sampson, “Abia: Otti tasks security agencies on 2027 elections,” September 26, 2026, 4:18 p.m. WAT. Online edition; print page number could not be independently verified.
Independent Newspaper Nigeria
Uche Nwosu, “Insecurity During Campaigns: Otti Assures Parties Of Adequate Security, Says Politicians Free To Use State Facilities,” September 26, 2026. Online edition; print page number not established from the accessible report.
InsideOut News
“2027: Otti Charges Security Agencies to Protect Free, Fair Political Campaigns in Abia,” September 25, 2026, reporting the statement issued by Chief Press Secretary Ukoha Njoku Ukoha.
Punch Newspapers
Okiki Adeduyite, “Why I’m supporting Tinubu — Alex Otti,” September 25, 2026, 10:40 a.m.
Punch Newspapers
Okiki Adeduyite, “Otti backs fuel subsidy removal, says return would hurt Nigeria,” September 25, 2026, 11:09 a.m.
THISDAY
Alex Enumah, “Presidential Election: Makinde, APM Drag Abia, Otti Others to Court over N200m Campaign Fee,” September 21, 2026. The report records the plaintiffs’ allegations and legal arguments; those allegations should not be treated as judicial findings.
THISDAY
Adedayo Akinwale, “INEC: We Lack Power to Sanction States Imposing Prohibitive Fees on Opposition for Campaign Billboards,” September 16, 2026.
