Gambiaj.com – (LAGOS, NIGERIA) – Nigeria’s 2027 election is already facing heightened political tensions, but a warning by former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege that anyone attempting to manipulate the vote will be killed has raised fresh concerns about the language being used ahead of the country’s next general election.
Omo-Agege, who is seeking to return to the Senate to represent Delta Central Senatorial District under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), issued the threat during a political event in his constituency.
The former senator represented Delta Central in the Senate from 2015 to 2023 and served as Deputy President of the Senate from 2019 to 2023. His latest warning comes as political parties begin intensifying mobilization ahead of the 2027 polls.
“Anybody who rigs the election on that day, we will kill him! If you don’t value your life, come and rig the election,” Omo-Agege said.
He described electoral manipulation as an attempt to steal the future of Nigerians and their children, insisting that he and his supporters would resist any effort to alter the outcome of the vote.
“They’re rigging your future. They’re rigging the future of your children. We’re waiting for them. Let them try it. It is rig and die. We’re going to give them aura for aura. There’s no court this time. We’re going to fight,” he added.
The remarks are particularly significant in a country where elections have repeatedly been accompanied by allegations of vote manipulation, political intimidation and violence. While concerns over electoral malpractice are legitimate, threats to kill suspected election offenders risk shifting the response from lawful electoral processes to extra-legal retaliation.
Omo-Agege’s comments also come as Nigerian authorities seek to reassure voters that the 2027 elections will be conducted peacefully and credibly.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the country’s security agencies to ensure that the elections are free, fair and secure.
Nigeria Defense Minister Christopher Musa said the security agencies had been instructed to remain neutral and provide a safe environment for Nigerians regardless of their political affiliations.
That makes Omo-Agege’s statement more than campaign rhetoric. Coming from a former senior parliamentary leader, the threat illustrates the potential danger of increasingly combative political language as the election approaches.
Nigeria’s political parties and security agencies now face the challenge of ensuring that anger over electoral manipulation is channeled through lawful mechanisms rather than violence.
With the 2027 election still months away, statements such as “rig and die” could become an early warning of the kind of political tension that authorities will need to contain before voting begins.
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