Post by Godswill Essien (@godswill_essien)

Dear Deltans,
You are sovereign citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Your vote belongs to you — not to Governor Oborevwori, not to a matrimonial connection, not to any party platform that your governor joined yesterday after campaigning on a different one the day before.

The Constitution of Nigeria does not say that in-laws are entitled to your ballot. No scripture — and we know this text well — commands that political kinship demands electoral compliance. What scripture does command is justice, and the exercise of conscience, and the rejection of oppression dressed in the robes of tradition.

In 2027, you will be asked again to choose. Choose on the basis of evidence. Choose on the basis of whether the roads are better, whether your DISCO has given you light, whether the market prices have moderated, whether your children can afford to eat. Choose on the basis of what has been done — not on the basis of who married whom.

No vote cast in conscience is evil. A democracy in which governors tell their people otherwise is the thing that deserves that name.

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