The real reason behind the postponement of the gubernatorial election in Edo State may have surfaced as the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole recently accused the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa of importing militants into Edo State with the aim of disrupting the governorship elections in the state.
The Governor who made the accusation in Benin City said it was shocking that the governors have raised N2bn for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at a time the states could not pay salaries of workers.
Oshiomhole, stated this while receiving the National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) Waheed Odusile on a courtesy visit. He also said that the All Progressives Congress, (APC) was ready for a peaceful election.
The governor, who said he had raised an alarm earlier that Okowa and Wike had decided to make Edo ungovernable during the election by bringing in militants from South South states, said: “As we speak, both governors have raised N2billion to give to Ize-Iyamu when they could not pay salaries in their states. They mobilised militants to Edo to register, preparatory to use them for violence in this election. We have eliminated violence in our elections here but in my election in 2007 PDP members killed three people at Oba primary school and brutalised hundreds of others. But there after we have ensured free and fair election in Edo State.
“But we have asked our people to be on the watch out, during the continuous voters registration exercise, many of them came into town and to my shock INEC registered many of them. But at least we were able to apprehend 13 and we handed them over to the police. During the same period in Etsako Central, they carried data capturing machines and turned private residence to registration centers. We did not take laws into our hand, we reported to the police.
“The guy whose house was being used, we reported to the police. We insisted that the police should charge them to court and after they did that they were granted them bail. And all these are PDP players.
“In the course of distributing the PVCs last week at Igueben, Some PDP thugs came to forcibly hijack PVCs from the officer that was distributing them at a school in Igueben and he ran into the residence of the PDP leader. Those PVC cards were recovered by the DSS.
“As we speak many militants have been imported into Edo state and the security agents are aware of this. For us we are ready for the election but we know that PDP has perfected plans to unleash violence. If you watch their public pronouncements, Ize-Iyamu has talked about cancellation and inconclusive elections.
“As we speak I do not know what has been done about the EO that made the data capturing machine available for illegal registration in private residence. We want a peaceful environment to be able to get our people out to vote.”
Responding to Oshiomole accusation, Gov.Okowa, who spoke through his information commissioner, said,
Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, accusing Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa of deploying militants in Edo state to disrupt the now postponed governorship election earlier slated for Saturday, 10 September, 2016.
Ordinarily, we are weary of joining issues with, not just a next door neighbor governor, but also of a state which together with Delta, has shared such a long and enviable social, political and economic history from the old days Mid-West Region to that of the now defunct Bendel State.
However, it has become necessary to, if only for once, let the public know that it has assumed a pattern for Governor Oshiomhole to embark on unprovoked attack and utterly undeserved potshots on Governor Okowa, who has never deemed it necessary to respond to such un-gubernatorial tantrums. We make bold to say that this is an unwholesome and unrewarding trajectory to embark upon.
In the present instance, we vehemently reject this accusation as alarmist in conception, reckless in delivery, puerile in content and false in facts , and so fit only for kindergarten’s “tales by moonlight”.
Oshiomhole is known for making wide, unsubstantiated and curious allegations. It is something of a trademark peculiar to him. If a man is gifted with the power of oratory, he must be careful to avoid a descent into suffering from diarrhea of the mouth.
The unfortunate aspect of Oshiomhole’s allegations is his disdain for, and crass ignorance of the place of figures. In this era of economic downturn and general challenge posed by paucity of funds for capital and recurrent expenses, it beats one hollow that Oshiomhole would, in his wide imagination, come up with such a curious allegation that a state in this country will just dole out one billion Naira in cash and to imagine the other logistics of embarking on ‘exporting militants’ to another state.
Much as Governor Okowa, as a faithful party member, will support the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he will never be a party to exporting militants to Edo State. And he certainly has better things to channel One Billion Naira into. And just for the record, Governor Okowa is not owing salaries.
We recall a similar development in 2012 when Oshiomhole surprised the whole nation by raising an alarm on election day against the umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it was about to rig the election in favour of the opposition. It turned out to be hoax as he won his re-election bid. He was to later childishly explain his gaffe as just being proactive.
We wish to warn that the good people of Edo and Delta have come a very long way. Oshiomhole should not in the name of politics sow a seed of discord, suspicion and bitterness in their minds before leaving office. He now has 18 more days to work for his candidate and party, we advise he faces it squarely and stop this impolitic of mudslinging and campaign of calumny
