TELL Magazine

Former member of the House of Representatives and the Vice-Chairman, National Campaign Council on Communications and Publicity for the All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo State Governorship Election, Patrick Obahiagbon, has accused the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, of harassing elected members of the party who refused to join him in the PDP thus making it difficult for him to unite the alien structures behind his candidacy.

Addressing journalists, Obahiagbon described the action of the governor as “undemocratic, Machiavellian, and deprecable intolerance” that must be rejected by all. He said: “the brazen resort to strong-arm stratagems, unbridled intimidation and macabre bludgeoning of APC members elected into various government positions simply because they have refused to decamp to the PDP along with the Governor verges on depreciable intolerance. It’s unacceptable to us and we call on all progressive democratic forces to condemn this anti-democratic acts oozing from the seat of government, in the strongest of terms”.

According to the former law maker, “A situation where our elected faithful party officials have been suspended from their offices and, in some cases, their salaries withdrawn, and at other times, forced out of office is not only anti-democratic and Machiavellian, but also palpably displays a resort to brute force which must be robustly repudiated by a coalition of progressive forces”.

He commended the teeming loyal APC members in the government whom he noted had voluntarily turned in their letters of resignation rather than betraying their unalloyed commitment to the fine ideals of the party. Obahiagbon assured them that their avowed determination and support to ensure the victory of the APC and its governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, at the polls in September, would not be in vain.

“Let all party members be reassured that their avowed determination to agglutinate with the APC and its governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has been copiously noted by our party and its governorship candidate. The governorship candidate of APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is full of encomiums for them and all party members daily making sacrifices, and has assured them that their efforts will not be in vain.”