What we are witnessing is no longer ordinary political disagreement. It is a deliberate, sustained campaign of targeted hate against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, The First Lady, and every Nigerian who openly stands with him.

From online mobs to physical confrontations, a section of the opposition, particularly elements within the Obidient movement, has made it a full time occupation to2 attack, insult, threaten, and attempt to silence anyone associated with the President. Comedians, entertainers, creative professionals, ordinary supporters, and even public officials are routinely marked for destruction the moment they defend the administration or celebrate its achievements.

Many in the creative industry have grown afraid to publicly identify with the President, not because they disagree with him, but because they know the personal cost of doing so. Families have been dragged into the fray. This is not politics. It is persecution.

The pattern reached a new low in London on Thursday, 12 November 2026. After Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan addressed a Chatham House event on preparations for the 2027 elections, a small group of Nigerian protesters surrounded his vehicle, shouted insults, and demanded his resignation. They labelled INEC a “criminal organisation” and accused him of bias toward President Tinubu and the APC, citing issues in the preliminary voters’ register. Some of those involved were reportedly wearing Peter Obi branded memorabilia.

A UK based Nigerian lawyer who was present described the group as tiny, between ten and fifteen people, and alleged that some were paid to stage the confrontation. Former Senator Shehu Sani rightly condemned the harassment of the electoral umpire as an attack on democratic institutions before any election has even taken place.

This was not a spontaneous expression of democratic concern. It was targeted intimidation of an independent institution, dressed up as protest.

Closer home, on Friday 13 November, after the President observed Juma’at prayers at the Shehu Shagari Central Mosque in Area 1, Garki, Abuja, sponsored thugs and miscreants attempted to attack security operatives attached to his convoy. Videos circulated of youths throwing stones and chanting rejection slogans. The Presidency has correctly identified these actions as the work of opposition elements deploying paid thugs to manufacture a narrative of rejection.

Any further attack on the person or the convoy of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not be condoned.

Nigeria is a country governed by the rule of law, not the law of the mob.

These attacks extend to the First Lady, Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu. From her days as First Lady of Lagos State, through the New Era Foundation, to her current work as First Lady of Nigeria, she has focused on empowering people and investing in communities.

The Renewed Hope Initiative has mobilised and deployed over one hundred billion naira in three years, reaching women entrepreneurs, widows of fallen security personnel, schoolgirls, disaster victims, and vulnerable families across all 36 states and the FCT. Her projects have delivered grants, scholarships, food support, and direct interventions to millions. To attack her is to attack the very people she serves.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a reformer and a visionary. His administration has placed Nigeria on a clearer path of economic viability after years of structural distortion. The reforms have been difficult, and the first four years have tested the resilience of Nigerians. Yet the foundations are shifting. Foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough that major banks have substantially raised international spending limits on naira cards.

Where many Nigerians once faced severe monthly restrictions, some banks now allow quarterly limits as high as forty thousand dollars.

Macroeconomic indicators are aligning. These are not slogans. They are measurable outcomes of difficult choices made in the national interest.

The majority of Nigerians voted for him in 2023. They retain the right to support him again in 2027 if that is their democratic choice. No amount of online terror, physical harassment, or manufactured outrage will erase that right.

Democracy is not the exclusive preserve of those who hate the President. Supporters of Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not be intimidated. Millions of us across the country believe in the direction he has set, understand the price of reform, and are prepared to stand by him so that Nigeria’s economy becomes stronger for generations to come.

The intimidation of Tinubu supporters, both virtually and physically, must stop henceforth. Attempts to cow us online or on the streets will fail. We live under a constitution that protects the right of every citizen to associate with, defend, and vote for the candidate of their choice. Nobody is rigging the future. If the majority of Nigerians decide that President Tinubu remains their choice, that decision will stand.

To the architects of this targeted hate: you will not succeed. The supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not be cowed. We will continue to defend the reforms, the First Lady’s investments in people, and the democratic mandate freely given by Nigerians.

Any further attack on the President, The First Lady, his convoy, or his supporters will be met with the full force of lawful resistance and the unbreakable resolve of those who believe Nigeria is worth the effort.

Let the opposition be warned, We will not be intimidated.

Dr. Dayo Israel

APC National Youth Leader