The Edo State Governor and leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has indicated that the PDP may not sign the Peace Accord today on the grounds that the agency, the Police, responsible for enforcing the accord have, through their actions, shown that they are acting in the interest of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and waging war against the PDP.
Obaseki spoke when he received the Chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC) and former Military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who was on a courtesy visit to the Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital, ahead of the signing of the Peace Accord on September 12, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi, raised alarm over the deployment of associates of the former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to act as the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the State and the Edo Commissioner of Police in the lead up to the September 21 governorship election.
The governor, had in a statement he personally signed on September 10, noted that since the commencement of the electioneering process in the State, the steps taken by the Police has shown that they are one-sided.
During his interaction with Abubakar in Benin City, the governor expressed worry that the Police under the manipulation of the APC, has arrested not less than 10 PDP chieftains who they perceived would be strong political opposition to them in the coming election, including the serving Chairman of Esan West Local Government Area, Hon. Collins Aigbogun, who was arrested and whisked to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
He noted that upon learning of the council chairman’s arrest, he reached out to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, asking that due process be followed and that the matter be handled within the State’s jurisdiction, a directive which was flouted, directly undermining his authority as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the State. The governor also noted that the PDP chairman had also written two petitions to the IGP over the harassment of the party leaders, which has not been attended to.
Obaseki therefore queried how one enters a peace accord with an umpire who, from the onset, has shown bias in favor of one of the parties in the election.
The governor also demanded the immediate unconditional release of the PDP chieftains who were arrested in gestapo style by the Police and whisked to secret holding centres, noting that if these PDP leaders were legally arrested, they should be charged to courts in Benin City to answer for whatever infractions they are said to have committed.
According to him, “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-circle election and there is a lot of attention.
“Unlike 2020, I am very worried with the developments in the State today. The party met yesterday and we might not likely sign this agreement. This is the first time we are witnessing that the person who is supposed to keep and enforce the 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.”
He added: “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 policemen have come into Edo State to invade, arrest and take away PDP members.
As we speak there are 10 PDP members arrested and detained in Abuja without a trial. Two days ago, they came to pick up a local government chairman. The Chairman was going back home and was attacked and shot at. We reported and the police asked him to come and give evidence, he came and was arrested. As I speak, he is in Abuja.
“Even if an offense has been committed in Edo State, why will you not charge the offenses and try them here in the State. Why take them to Abuja, are the offenses 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 made nonsense of 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, Aziegbemi, said the party is raising dust over the involvement of Wike’s associates in the election because of the well-documented disagreement between the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and the FCT Minister, Wike, noting that the party sees the involvement of the officials as a recipe for disaster as they share close links with the Minister and are wont to do his bidding before, during and after the elections.
Aziegbemi noted that the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) is Anugbum Onuoha, who is a former Special Adviser on Lands to the FCT Minister, Wike while he served as Governor, adding that the Edo Commissioner of Police, CP Nemi Edwin-Iwo, a close associate of the FCT Minister, was deployed to the State barely a month ago.
The PDP chair also stressed that the close link between these officials and the Minister means that the election may have been compromised even before it kicked off.
In a statement, 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.
“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.”
