…But Oshiomhole Media Aide reacts, describes allegations as mischievous
Edo State Government has raised the alarm, citing intelligent reports that the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and members of the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) want to create tension in the state with the intent of forcing the authorities to declare a State of Emergency.
This alarm is coming on the heel of use of explosives in some parts of the state at the weekend.
The government condemned the use of explosives and other dangerous weapons at the weekend by “some politicians in parts of the state to cause mayhem, endangering the lives of law-abiding citizens of the state in the process.”
“Intelligence reports available to us indicate that this is the next move by the suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his cohorts in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) to create tension in the state with the intent of forcing the authorities to declare a State of Emergency in Edo State.”
In a statement on Saturday, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, described the dastardly act as reprehensible and most condemnable.
“The shameful resort to violence is the next move by the suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his cohorts in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) to create tension in the state with the intent of forcing the authorities to declare a State of Emergency in Edo State.”
He restated the state government’s commitment to the peace and safety of Edo people, warning those intent on exacerbating tensions in the state to steer clear.
The statement reads: “It has come to our notice that explosives and other dangerous weapons were used by some politicians in parts of the state to cause mayhem, endangering the lives of law-abiding citizens of the state in the process.
“The Edo State Government denounces the resort to such desperate and dangerous means for political reasons. This is reprehensible and most condemnable. It runs against the creed of our people to conduct their affairs in a peaceful manner; worse still, employing destructive means in politics is alien to Edo people.”
The government charged Nigeria’s Presidency and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to call Oshiomhole to order so as to prevent the destructive descent to violence from eroding the “good legacies that have been built over the years by the APC in Edo State.”
In his reaction, Media Aide to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Mr. Simon Ebegbulem described the allegations as baseless and mischievous, adding that the government was unleashing acts of violence on the APC National chairman and his supporters.
According to him, Oshiomhole is working tirelessly to solidify the party in the state as National Chairman of the party with the aim to deliver Edo state in the next election.
Ebegbulem accused the Obaseki administration of working against this effort by allegedly unleashing thuggery on him whenever he was ready to receive members of the opposition PDP defecting to APC in the state.
“Obaseki is no longer interested in the growth of the APC, rather he is destroying it,” Ebegbulem alleged.
He accused the governor of orchestrating the bombing in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government Area of the state, where Oshiomhole was billed to receive members of the PDP into the APC fold on Saturday.
