In a recent interview this Tuesday, June 23, 2026, the national president of the Nouveau Mouvement Populaire (NMP), Banda Kani, expressed profound displeasure with political commentator Elimbi Lobe, characterizing him as a figure of legendary inconsistency.
The Cameroonian political figure Banda Kani voiced his strong disapproval of Elimbi Lobe, whom he described as a tribal provocateur. During an interview shared on his platform this Tuesday, June 23, 2026, the NMP national president articulated his exasperation with Lobe, particularly following Lobe’s remarks on a Yaoundé-based television channel, where he referred to the nationalist Ernest Ouandié as a “bandit”.
“By calling Ouandié a ‘bandit,’ Elimbi Lobe has disgraced himself,” declared the pan-Africanist Banda Kani. He asserted that Elimbi Lobe is destined never to achieve the status of a formidable politician. “He has diminished himself to a rogue. He has become a political actor who will never gain national prominence in this country. He has reduced himself to a minor local politician, pursuing a strategy solely to become a parliamentary deputy,” Kani continued.
Could he have uttered such statements during his time with the SDF?
Delving into historical context, Banda Kani highlighted Elimbi Lobe’s shifting political stances. He pointed out the stark contrast in Lobe’s discourse when he was an activist for the Social Democratic Front (SDF). “He is engaged in an electoralist strategy. Examine his past. Consider his own words in 2011 when he was with the SDF. He championed national integration. He even extolled the role of the Bamilékés in national development, going so far as to say his best friend was a Bamiléké, whose name he wished to bestow upon his son,” Kani elaborated.
“In 2015, he was denouncing tribalists. Could he have made such statements when he was with the SDF? The party would have certainly restrained him. You are dealing with a petty politician who believes that if he is elected deputy, his political career will reach its pinnacle,” Banda Kani concluded, dismissing Lobe’s national aspirations.
