The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation, Youth Empowerment and Sports in Borno State, Comrade Saina Buba, has defended his controversial remarks about breaking the fingers of people who oppose his political group.
He insisted that the statement was not directed at opposition parties in the state.
Buba came under scrutiny after a video circulated on social media in which he was heard warning those who “show” members of his group a finger that their fingers would be broken.
“We are now playing politics. Whoever shows us a finger, we will show him a finger. Whoever dares to show us a finger again, we will break his finger,” he said in the video.
The remarks triggered concerns over the tone of political engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections, with reports suggesting that the commissioner had threatened opponents of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, addressing journalists at his office in Maiduguri, Buba rejected the interpretation, saying his comments had been taken out of context.
He explained that the gathering where the remarks were made was exclusively for APC members and supporters of the City Boy Movement (CBM), an initiative established in the North-East to mobilise and empower party loyalists.
According to him, the meeting was not a gathering of opposition parties and his remarks were directed at aggrieved APC members whom he accused of engaging in anti-party activities after the party’s primaries.
“The meeting was purely an APC members’ gathering, not a political parties’ meeting. It’s a City Boy Movement that was launched in the North-East to empower party loyalists,” he said.
Buba said the APC had observed that some members who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the primaries had begun working against the party, prompting the warning.
He said his statement that APC supporters would be “fed with honey” while those who failed to support the party would be “caned” was figurative.
The commissioner explained that the remarks were intended to communicate that party loyalists would benefit from empowerment and welfare initiatives, while members involved in anti-party activities would not receive such benefits.
“We in the APC observed that immediately after the party’s primaries, some aggrieved members had started playing anti-party politics, and we felt it was necessary to call them to order,” he said.
Buba maintained that he had no apology to offer for the statement, insisting that it was made before people who shared the same political affiliation and understood the context.
He also predicted a more intense political atmosphere as preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum, saying opposition parties should be expected to mount attacks against the APC.
The commissioner further claimed that the APC remained dominant in Borno, declaring that the party was positioned to win all elective positions in the state.
“Fortunately, there is no opposition in Borno, as our party will clinch all elective positions in view of the numerous people-oriented projects executed by the state and Federal Government in the North-East,” he added.
The controversy comes amid a separate political threat in the Federal Capital Territory, where a Chief Protocol Officer to the Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Stephen Tumaka, reportedly warned residents against voting for candidates other than those of the APC in 2027.
In a social media post, Tumaka declared that Kuje belonged to the APC and listed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Philip Aduda and Hon. Danladi Chiya, popularly known as Bayani, as candidates residents should support.
“LISTEN WELL. Kuje is APC. If you are not ready to vote ASIWAJU TINUBU, SENATOR ADUDA, and HON. BAYANI on election day comes January, then this Area Council is not for you,” he wrote.
His comments came on the heels of reports that Kuje Area Council Chairman, Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo, had also warned residents to support the APC or leave the council.