With nine days to the governorship election in Edo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has refused to sign the peace accord.
At the venue of the signing of the peace accord in Benin City, the state capital, on Thursday, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), who leads the National Peace Committee, announced that the PDP said it would only sign the peace accord if certain conditions were met.
“I met the governor yesterday and he told me the PDP are not going to sign this peace accord”, he said. Mr. Godwin Obaseki of the PDP is the governor of the state, who is about to conclude his second term in office, while his party fields Dr. Asue Ighodalo as candidate.
The former military ruler continued: “They had made some observations and I was expecting the chairman of the PDP to come and make that statement, having waited for him this long he chose to announce that the PDP said they are not going to sign and they have got some conditionalities.
“They said that after these conditionalities have been met, they will come to Abuja and sign”.
The chairman of the PDP in the state was not at the venue to give details about why the party refused to sign the accord.
However, Obaseki said on Wednesday that his party might not sign the accord. The governor spoke about the likelihood of this when he met with members of the National Peace Committee.
Although the PDP and its candidate, Ighodalo, did not sign, other parties, including the the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo; and the Labour Party’s candidate, Barrister Olumide Akpata, signed the accord.
Earlier, the Team Asue Media Organisation (TAMO) had strongly condemned the alleged collusion between the APC and the Nigeria Police Force and thrown its weight behind Obaseki’s refusal to sign the Peace Accord.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Benin City, and signed by Erhabor Emokpae, TAMO insisted that the governor was right in rejecting the appeal to sign the Peace Accord, saying the Police had not demonstrated the needed conviction of neutrality but on the contrary continue to show that they are “a willing tool in the hands of the APC, arresting and harassing PDP members at will while ignoring the criminal actions of APC thugs and operatives”.
The full statement reads: “TAMO stands firmly with Governor Godwin Obaseki in rejecting any attempt to sign a peace accord that is nothing but a smokescreen to cover up the APC’s blatant manipulation of the electoral process. The Nigeria Police Force has become a willing tool in the hands of the APC, arresting and harassing PDP members at will while ignoring the criminal actions of APC thugs and operatives.
“We are not fooled by this sham! The so-called peace accord is meaningless when the Nigeria Police and federal agencies are being used to intimidate, oppress, and break the will of our supporters. Our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, will not be a party to a peace charade designed to silence the opposition while the APC, with the help of compromised security forces, wreaks havoc on our democratic process.
“Let it be clear: We are ready for peace, but we will not sign away our right to a free and fair election. If the police continue to act as agents of the APC, they should expect resistance from the people. Edo State belongs to the people, and we will not allow APC-backed police intimidation to derail the will of the electorate. We demand the immediate cessation of the unlawful arrests and the release of all PDP members detained by the police on fabricated charges.
“If the police cannot maintain neutrality, they should be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. The people of Edo State will not be silenced, bullied, or manipulated. Dr. Ighodalo is committed to defending the sanctity of our democracy, and we stand ready to resist any further attempts by the APC and their collaborators to hijack this election.
“We call on the international community to take note of the growing impunity in Edo and the complicity of federal institutions in the APC’s desperate agenda. The PDP will not back down, and we will fight with every legitimate means to ensure a free, fair, and transparent election.
Enough is enough!”
