Edo On Tenterhooks As PDP, APC Trade Words Over Okpebholo’s Governance Style, Alleged Violent Attacks

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The brickbats between the he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continued on Tuesday. This time the PDP is accusing the Governor Monday Okpebholo administration of sponsoring thugs to break into its party secretariat to steal election documents in an attempt to frustrate its efforts to reclaim the alleged mandate given to it and its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, at the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
At a press conference on Tuesday, titled ‘The State of the Nation’, Dr. Tony Aziegbeni, the PDP’s caretaker committee chairman, raised the alarm over what he described as “the very troubling and disturbing developments” in the state under the APC which he feared “if not appropriately addressed, could spell doom for our democracy”, as well as “serve as a recipe for anarchy and instability of the state.”
But firing back, the APC waved off the PDP’s allegation dismissing it as an attempt to give a dog a bad name just to hang it. Prince Kassim Afegbua, a former information commissioner, used the occasion of the inauguration of the state’s Assets Verification Committee by Governor Okpebholo at the Government House, to respond to the party’s claim. Afegbua posited that the APC was “too preoccupied, too serious, too busy, trying to pick up Edo State from the ashes of underdevelopment that the previous government plunged it to be looking at the secretariat of an opposition party that was humbled at the last election, beaten flat in their own domain, by the resounding victory we got from Edo people”.
According to Afegbua, “the decisions and policy focus of the present government is such that we will not be bogged down by claims of ‘trying to attack us’ just to distract us”.
Condemning the alleged “barbaric and unprovoked attack” on its secretariat, in which properties worth millions of naira were reportedly destroyed and election documents carted away, the PDP chairman chided the APC, saying, “I have not seen people that are so dumb that would imagine that we will just keep the only copy of the documents we are using in the court in the party secretariat”, adding that “Just that they know, those documents are in five copies, and they are in different locations in this country”.
The PDP also criticised Governor Okpebholo for purchasing over N5bn worth of vehicles in violation of procurement procedures, failure to pay salaries of civil servants as of November 26 contrary to the practice of the Obaseki-led administration in spite of leaving over N30bn in the state’s coffers, and the decision by both the governor and his deputy to continue to hold onto their positions as senator and House of Representatives member respectively in violation of the constitution.
Aziegbeni said it was most unfortunate and disappointing that in just 14 days in office, Governor Okpebholo, “through his actions and inactions, has succeeded in setting a dangerous tone for crisis and breach of public peace, and we are worried that this troubling precedent may just be an ignition for a conflagration that may well be avoided”.
According to him, “Just last week, the APC mobilizsed thugs to attack the PDP Secretariat on Airport Road, in Benin City, in their desperation to intimidate and frustrate our efforts at reclaiming the mandate duly given to our party and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, at the September 21 governorship election.
“The barbaric and unprovoked attack on the PDP Secretariat was said to be led by (name withheld), who invaded the premises, destroying properties worth millions of naira and carting away other valuable items and election documents”, same manner, he alleged, thugs under the payroll of the governor, as “government vehicle recovery agents” led by Kelty Okungbowa, a chieftain of the APC in the state, “broke into the private residence of the immediate past Governor of the state HE Godwin Obaseki, in Gestapo style, assaulting and harassing security personnel at the premises looking for phantom vehicles.
“Anybody that knows the immediate past governor will know that he’s not that kind of person that holds onto material things. Material things are alien to him unlike these low-bred APC members.
“This is most reprehensible and unacceptable, and we urge relevant security agencies to thoroughly investigate these barbaric attacks and ensure that the perpetrators of this lawless and dastardly acts are brought to book.
“As I was walking into this hall, I also got a message that this same so-called government vehicles recovery agents were at the Golf Road where our candidate used to live, also looking for government vehicles in that premises. We condemn these acts in strongest terms. We are not surprised though because we know that lawlessness is in the DNA of the APC”.
Carpeting Okpebholo and his deputy for failure to resign as federal lawmakers in line with section 68(1)d of the 1999 Constitution as amended, two weeks after their inauguration, Aziegbemi said they were denying their constituencies of representation at the National Assembly.
Quoting the relevant section which stipulates that “A member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if he becomes President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor or a Minister of the Government of the Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser”, Aziegbemi said “It cannot be clearer than that. It was expected, even before they were sworn-in, they should have resigned their positions in the National Assembly to clear the way for the principal officers of the National Assembly to write to INEC to declare those seats vacant and for INEC to activate the process of conducting by-elections.
“How can they simultaneously hold the positions of Governor and Senator, as well as Deputy Governor and Member of the House of Representatives? It is only right and constitutional that they should resign their membership. But again, APC thrives on illegality and lawlessness, and has continued to thread on the infamous path, while making a mockery of their constituents”.
On perceived delay in payment of November salaries to civil and public servants, Aziegbemi noted that “Today, 26th day of December, by now, civil servants in the state would have been receiving their alerts because the Obaseki-led administration made sure that everybody in the state was paid on the 26th of every month. We are aware that as we speak, nobody in the state has received any alert.
“For eight years, the PDP-led administration paid salaries on or before the 25th of every month and as at today, they have not been able to pay November salary despite the fact, and we are saying this with all sense of responsibility, the Obaseki-led PDP administration left behind in the coffers of the state over N30bn. What have they done with that money? They have frittered away that money and shared it to their godfather for the role they played in subverting the will of Edo people”.
Countering the PDP to the issue of non-resignation from the National Assembly, chief press secretary to the governor, Fred Itua, mocked the PDP for “openly displaying its ignorance”. Itua explained that “When members of the National Assembly are elevated, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives declare their seats vacant”. He therefore urged Edo people to ignore PDP’s open display of ignorance.
Reacting to the PDP’s sundry allegations, Itua said the party was yet “to accept the clear reality that it has assumed the arduous role of an opposition party”, adding that it ought to be apologising to Edo people “for mismanaging their resources, denigrating revered traditional institutions, and allocating the commonwealth to a few insatiable criminals”.
According to the governor’s spokesperson, Governor Okpebholo “is in a hurry to develop Edo State. Since his inauguration a fortnight ago, he has remained undaunted, living up to the people’s expectations. Barely one week in office, he addressed and solved what the Godwin Obaseki-led administration could not confront in eight years.
“He has banned activities of touts across various markets in Edo State hired by the Obaseki-led administration. Governor Okpebholo has confronted and solved the hydra-headed cult clashes in Benin City and has stopped illegal revenue collections as well.
“He has flagged off the first flyover bridge in Edo State and is addressing key and challenging problems deliberately packaged by the Obaseki administration. The PDP and Obaseki are worried that the public will be dazed when details of the atrocities he supervised as governor are unearthed.
“Unfortunately, the Okpebholo-led administration owes it to Edo people to expose the PDP and Obaseki. Today, it is on record that the Obaseki-led heinous administration dubiously dolled out almost 500 Government-owned vehicles to his cronies and allies. The PDP-led heist in Edo State will be exposed. Governor Okpebholo-led administration will expose the atrocities of Obaseki and the factional PDP. No amount of blackmail will stop the Okpebholo-led administration from recovering the commonwealth of the people from a few dubious men”.