Former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, has taken a swipe at Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for his use of ‘fighting words’ against the PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.

El-Rufai had in a recent tweet labelled Obi as a “tribal bigot”, saying that he (Obi) as the governor of Anambra, prevented him from moving around the state during the 2010 governorship election in the state.

Obaze described the statement as regrettable, adding that it goes beyond acceptable political rhetorics.

He said that no amount of partisan politics or schism can justify or legitimise such hate speech and inciting utterances.

The retired diplomat, who was the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) at the time of the incident, maintained that El-Rufai’s protective custody and restriction to his hotel room related to his activities in the state.

According to him, his (El-Rufai) activities were in violation of Section 129:1(c) and (k) and Section 129:2 (a) and (b) of the 2010 Electoral Act.

He said: “Under the circumstance, no responsible national or state security agency would allow a citizen, no matter how highly placed, to become a scofflaw and flout extant electoral laws.”