Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki bared his mind to former Head of State and Chairman of the National Peace Committee, (NPC) Abdusalami Abubakar, retired Army General, on the travails of his party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and why it would not sign a peace pact ahead of the September 21 governorship election in the state.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The occasion was a courtesy call on him by Abubakar on Wednesday to announce his presence in the state and his mission. The state chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi had also earlier at a press conference, hinted that the PDP would be shunning the peace pact, citing police intimidation and arrests of party supporters.
“You are very conversant with the politics of Edo State. You were here in 2020, and we had a very heated election. You know this is an off-cycle election and there is a lot of attention. Unlike 2020, I’m very worried; very, very worried because from the developments and where we are today, the party, we met yesterday, and we might not likely sign this agreement. The person who is supposed to enforce this peace accord is now an active participant in creating a destructive environment.
“The opposition party in the state, the APC, has always argued that they may not be as popular and didn’t win in the last election, but however promised to use Federal might to determine the outcome of the election.
“We thought it’s just rhetoric, but in the last four weeks, we’ve had a situation where from the office of the IGP, armed gang of policemen have come into Edo to invade, arrest and take away PDP members. As we speak, there are about 10 in detention in Abuja without trial. Two days ago, they came to pick up a local government chairman. This is a local government chairman; he was going back home and was attacked and shot at. He reported, and the police said he should come and give evidence; he came, and they arrested him. And as I speak, he’s in Abuja.
“Even if offences were committed in Edo State, why would you not charge the offences here and try them here? Why take them to Abuja? Are these offences of high treason? And why not charge them to court in Abuja? The IGP’s office came in and obtained warrants to arrest 60 PDP supporters, essentially driving the leaders into hiding.
“My role as a chief security officer is being made nonsense of by the IG. I heard somebody was arrested; the chairman was arrested, I called the commissioner, I said I understand this has happened; please look into it and let me know. He said I’ll come back to you sir, and he ignored me, he didn’t say anything. The next morning by 4 am, he moved that person to Abuja. And as we speak, they are all there.
“So, sir, how can we sign a Peace Accord? Tell me, why should we? Because clearly, what they are saying is it’s going to be a very violent election, and they are going to use the forces of cohesion and intimidation to win the elections in Edo whether we like it or not. That’s the message.
“Now that the IGP is in town, we say until everybody arrested in Edo is released or brought back to Edo to be tried for whatever offence they claimed that they have committed, we have no confidence that the police are going to protect us in this election”.
Canvassing a similar position, Aziegbemi, the state PDP chairman, complained of alleged involvement of associates of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and former Rivers State governor, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike because of the frosty relationship between the minister and Governor Obaseki.
According to him, “We are worried that the election may have been compromised even before it starts. This is because we are certain that the officials responsible for conducting a free, fair and credible election are close associates of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
“The INEC REC (Resident Electoral Commissioner) in Edo is Wike’s cousin and served as a Special Adviser on Lands to him in Rivers State. Everyone in Nigeria knows the antecedents of Wike and his conduct during elections in Rivers State. So, we will not close our eyes and watch him deploy the same tactic in Edo State. The current Edo State Commissioner of Police, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, is also a close associate of Wike. We believe he would not act in the best interest of Edo people nor even in the spirit and letters of the Electoral Act.
“So, it is no wonder that the Police have been acting arbitrarily in the run up to the election. They have been after members and leaders of the PDP in the last few weeks, as a rogue team has been hounding, arresting and whisking PDP leaders away to Abuja in a gestapo style. So, for us, the precedent has been set, and we will not sit and watch these men cause chaos in the state in pursuit of personal vendetta”.