The government said reports and several checks with the relevant security agencies in the state, confirmed that “the plot has been perfected to cause unprecedented mayhem and a general sense of insecurity in Edo State to disrupt the forthcoming local council polls.”
The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communications Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the plan also includes the hiring of militants from neighboring Niger Delta states to instill fear in the electorates and stop them from exercising their franchise during the elections.
Osagie said “the recurring name in this irresponsible plot is the faint-hearted and dying Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after failing abysmally to dissuade anyone at a press conference it organized recently in Benin City, where it threatened to go to court and restrain the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) from conducting the election.”
He explained that the PDP is scared of the failure that awaits the party at the polling booths and is inventing devilish means to disrupt the process.
He however assured that “the respective security agencies have been fully briefed and are on alert to intercept the would-be assailants and aggressors from carrying out their evil plans. The Edo State Government will not be intimidated by the shenanigans of the PDP and will ensure it carries out its constitutional role of ensuring the security of life and property and that the citizens perform their civic duties.”
The governor’s aide said the state government will deploy a mix of overt and covert strategies to secure all parts of the state before, during and after the exercise.
He urged all political parties in the state to behave as good sportsmen and put forward their best feet for the political contest.
“Free and fair elections are strange to the PDP. For them, it is either their fraudulent way of writing results in their bedrooms or no way. They know that never again will Edo people make the mistake of filing behind any PDP candidate in the state, that is why the dying party is plotting to scuttle the forthcoming council polls and they will surely fail,” Osagie said.
He called on Edo people to be calm and go about their lawful businesses assured that the Obaseki-led government is on top of the situation and will quell any sinister plots of the PDP and its cohorts before they are hatched.
PDP dismisses claim, describes it as a figment of government’s imagination
Meanwhile in its reaction, Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has trashed the allegation, describing it as a figment of Edo Government’s imagination.
In a press statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare, the major opposition party in the state said:
Our attention has been drawn to the cries of a desperate government that PDP plans to disrupt its illegally planned LG elections.
We want to state categorically that the purported plan as alleged by the state government is a figment of the imagination of the state government.
We have challenged the elections, the composition of EDSIEC and the validity of the EDHA to cut short the election notice from 90 to 45 days.
As a law abiding party, we have taken our concerns to court and are confident that our concerns will be addressed.
APC in Edo is scared of its shadow. APC should look inwards As It is common knowledge that their imposition of candidates has created serious rancor within the party and threatening the security of the state.
We implore the security agencies to be wary of the APC state government diversionary tactics as a desperate party like APC will do anything to gain sympathy and attention.
