September 15, (THEWILL) – This weekend’s governorship poll in Edo State started on a shaky note on Thursday when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, have declined to sign the Peace Accord initiated by the National Peace Committee (NPC), led by former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) for the political parties and their candidates in the election.
Governor Godwin Obaseki had on Wednesday questioned the essence of a peace accord when, he claimed, an umpire showed bias and open support for the All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the build-up to the governorship poll.
Speaking when he received the Chairman of the NPC at the Government House in Benin City, the governor alleged that PDP members are being harassed and detained by the police in Edo State and Abuja.
He said, “The opposition party in the state, 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 forthcoming 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 policemen have come into Edo State to invade, arrest and take away PDP members.
“As we speak, 10 PDP members have been arrested and detained in Abuja without trial. Two days ago, they came to pick up a local government chairman. The Chairman was attacked on his way home. We reported the incident and the police asked him to come and give evidence. When he got there, he was arrested. As I speak, he is in Abuja.
“Even if an offence has been committed in Edo State, why will you not charge the offenders and try them here in the state. Why take them to Abuja? Are the offences of high treason? Why not charge them to court?
“The IGP’s office came in, issued a warrant to arrest 60 PDP supporters, driving all our leaders into hiding. My role as the Chief Security Officer of the state is being rubbished by the IGP. I heard somebody was arrested and I called the Commissioner to inform him. He said he will come back to me only to hear that he moved the person to Abuja.
“Tell me sir, how can we sign a peace accord in this situation? Clearly, what they are saying is that it’s going to be a violent election and that they are going to use the forces of coercion and intimidation to win elections in Edo, whether we like it or not. That is the message. Now that the IGP is in town, we say until everybody arrested is brought back to Edo and be tried here in Edo for whatever offences they have committed, we have no confidence that the police will protect us in Edo State during the Governorship election.”
On his part, the Chairman of the PDP in Edo, Anthony Aziegbemi, noted that the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Anugbum Onuoha, and the Edo Commissioner of Police, CP Nemi Edwin-Iwo, are close associates of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Aziegbemi said: “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 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.
Meanwhile, the APC and its governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Apkata and 14 others signed the peace accord along with 15 other political parties.
The state chapter of the APC said: “This monumental gesture reaffirms Senator Okpebholo’s dedication to ensuring a fair, transparent and violence-free election.
“As a man of integrity and accountability, Senator Okpebholo believes that true progress for Edo can only be built on a foundation of peace and unity.”
The APC, at a press conference organised by its State Chairman, Jaret Tenebe, on Thursday, said it was not disposed to signing the Peace Accord because of the failure of the police to arrest the suspects named in the killing of Inspector Akor Anuh, one of the security details attached to the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on July 18, 2024, along Airport Road, Benin City and attacks on members of the party at a PDP campaign rally.
The PDP, in declining to sign the peace accord, said that its action was based on alleged partisan dispositions of the Nigeria Police Force.
Speaking to journalists at the venue of the peace accord parley chaired by Gen Abubakar, Aziegbemi said that despite the incidents, the police had decided to arrest his party members while those identified in the APC were roaming the streets of Edo freely.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Abubakar noted that Obaseki had on Wednesday raised the issues of police bias and set out some conditions to be met by the police before PDP could sign the accord.
He said: “I expected Dr Aziegbemi to have stated that before the committee and political parties rather than his outright refusal to sign the accord
“The PDP still had the opportunity of signing the peace accord by coming to Abuja to do so,” he added.
Meanwhile, women in their thousands on Thursday staged a massive protest in Benin City, the Edo State capital, to decry and condemn what they described as the incessant Police harassment of Edo people in an uneven-handed manner as the governorship poll draws near.
The protest is coming on the heels of the order given by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, for the arraignment of the party supporters on trumped up charges in a remote Magistrate Court in Abuja, it was learnt. Following the loud outcry by Edo people over the indiscriminate arrest and unlawful detention of some members of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the state, ahead of the September 21 governorship election, the IGP gave the orders for the arraignment of the party supporters.
Reacting to the developments, Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, a civic hub for the promotion of democratic governance, Samson Itodo, raised the alarm over the potential of ‘war’ among the parties during the poll.
He said, “We have a rise in the activities of cult groups in the build-up to the election. We have seen attacks on political candidates and supporters. We have seen destruction at party rallies. These pre-election signs clearly demonstrate that the political actors are not preparing for elections on September 21, they are preparing for a showdown. They are preparing for war.”
He called on INEC and security agencies to “put the interest of the people first and on the political actors on both sides to put the interest of their state first and comply with the rules of the game.”
