The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council has asked Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum to explain a circulating video in which he allegedly threatens to arrest and detain people using the slogan, “Tinubu Must Go.”
Phrank Shaibu, director of strategic communications of the campaign council, said in a statement on Sunday that the remarks attributed to the governor appeared to contradict his recent denial that he ordered the arrest of people wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan.
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The video posted on X purports to show Mr Zulum speaking in Hausa.
PREMIUM TIMES has not independently established when or where the footage was recorded, or the full context of the governor’s remarks.
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Mr Zulum had denied ordering the arrests, saying he was unaware of the detention of the men and had never directed the arrest of opposition supporters or critics of his administration.
The ADC asked him to explain the apparent contradiction.
“This is especially troubling because Governor Zulum recently denied ordering the arrest of people wearing ‘Tinubu Must Go’ T-shirts,” Mr Shaibu said.
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“He must explain the fresh video and reconcile its contents with that denial.”
The campaign council said expressing opposition to a president, including through slogans or inscriptions on clothing, should not by itself be grounds for arrest.
It added that where authorities have evidence that an individual committed a separate offence, they should prosecute on their own merits rather than use it to punish political expression.
“No governor has the authority to criminalise peaceful political opinion,” Mr Shaibu said.
The ADC also called on Mr Zulum to withdraw any directive targeting people solely for opposing President Bola Tinubu.
Earlier arrests
The controversy followed the arrest of five men in Maiduguri on 25 September.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Baba Aji Gremami, Mustapha Abba Yemen, Abacha Mohammed Ali, Adam Umar Gubio and Abdulhamid Mohammed were charged with criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance, disturbance of public peace and thuggery.
According to the charges seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the police alleged that the men conspired to print T-shirts bearing the “Tinubu Must Go” inscription to cause a breach of public peace around West End Roundabout in Maiduguri.
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The Borno State Police Command later gave a more detailed account of the arrests, saying officers encountered the men during a routine patrol and recovered 15 wraps of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis, 100 tablets suspected to be D5, a shisha pot, a pair of scissors and two T-shirts bearing the slogan.
The police said the arrests were not motivated by the suspects’ political views and maintained that the court should determine the allegations based on the evidence presented.
Mr Zulum subsequently distanced himself from the arrests and said opposition supporters were entitled to express their views within the law.
The circulating video has now prompted the ADC to demand a further explanation from the governor.
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