Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said his party, the People Democratic Party (PDP) was pleased with the commitment of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetoku and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to ensure a free, fair and credible election in the State.
Obaseki said this while addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting of the party caucus, at the Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Expressing confidence that the party will come out victorious in Saturday’s gubernatorial election, the governor said the party is ready for the polls, charging party leaders and members to continue mobilizing support for the party across the State.
He said, “As a caucus, we are pleased with the current utterances from the security agencies in Nigeria. We want to particularly appreciate the statement issued by the Inspector General of Police, making a commitment to support the peace process, ensuring that there is a level playing field for all the players and we endorse his efforts to draft a lot more men to Edo to support the elections on Saturday.
“We are also pleased with INEC so far and have every reason to trust the authorities of INEC and what they are committed to doing. So, our leaders are going to various local governments to continue mobilizing for citizens to come out and support our candidate who clearly stands shoulder high above other candidates in the governorship race.
“We want to say that we are ready for this election. From this meeting of the caucus of the party, we have made sure that we have covered all grounds and the leaders of our party have all assured me that they are heading back home now to cross the Ts and dots the Is on Saturday.”
Obaseki added, “We are hoping that when the Courts resume tomorrow, Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, all our people who have been detained in Abuja all these weeks will be released. If they are granted bail, allowed to come back home to their families and participate in the democratic process, we would consider signing the Peace Accord.”
On INEC’s plans to postpone the governorship election in Edo State, the governor noted that “the Chairman of INEC has promised that the election will be held on Saturday 21st of September 2024, so we have no reasons to doubt his words.”
On his part, the Chairman of the PDP in Edo State, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi said, ‘After some hours of deliberations, the State caucus of the party reviewed and endorsed all the programmes put together by the party thus far.
“It was a deliberate and exhaustive conversation. A few areas not covered have been taken note of. We wish to State that the PDP in Edo State is ready for the election and believes very strongly that the programmes we have put together will lead us to victory.”
He added, “Edo people should not be afraid to come out on September 21st to cast their votes. We believe that we are one and nobody will come to hurt anybody. We are brothers and sisters in the polling units and together we will make the right choice and Edo will be better for it. We are confident that the Edo people will vote for PDP and Asue Ighodalo.”
It would be recalled that Governor Obaseki in recent several media outings accused the Police and INEC of complicity with the state’s opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to undermine the integrity of the governorship election.
Obaseki accused the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working in cahoots with the All Progressive Congress (APC) to postpone the September 21, 2024 governorship poll on the eve of the election, citing credible security information.
He also accused the police of arresting certain key PDP members and whisking them to Abuja purposely to prevent them from performing their critical electoral duties on election day.
Obaseki’s allegations lend credence to deepening electoral tensions in the state and formed the basis on which he and his party refused to sign the pre-election peace accord in Benin City last Thursday.
“We refused to sign the peace agreement yesterday because we don’t know if what we have presently is the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) or the All Police Congress (APC). This is the new meaning of APC. Why will they be intimidating people? Aligning with APC to intimidate, scare and oppress citizens of Edo State,” Obaseki said.
