By Frank Momoh
With less than 2 weeks to Edo State Governorship election, the incumbent governor who is the candidate
of the PDP, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and his challenger from APC, Pastor Osaigie Ize-Iyamu, have resorted to counter and counter-accusations over the hiring of thugs from neighbouring states to thwart the September 19th election.
The Social Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, in the counter-accusation has declared as a completely false, allegation by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that thugs are being ferried into the Edo State Government House in Benin City, the state capital.
Osagie, who made the declaration in a statement issued on Wednesday in Benin City, said: “Convinced that its candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu is no match for Governor Godwin Obaseki, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) is churning out lies and propaganda, in its bid to get the September 19 poll cancelled or postponed.”
He added: “Recall that we raised the alarm earlier, that the APC is committed to derailing the forthcoming election. The party’s tactics include the daily publication of falsehood and fear-mongering by the media handlers of its gubernatorial candidate.
“The party’s ultimate aim is to get the attention of the electoral umpire and security agencies and mislead them into cancelling or postponing the Edo gubernatorial poll.”
Osagie maintained that “another strategy of the APC is to accuse the PDP of the set of desperate and illegal actions that the APC is guilty of, in order to divert public attention from its rigging strategies being perfected in some hotels in Kogi, Edo and some South-West states.”
He urged the police and other security agencies as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to rise to the occasion and deliver an election that is devoid of violence and electoral malfeasance.