…Labour, APGA, YPP Others Also Sign Accord
The All Progressives Congress (APC) made a U-turn after threatening to boycott the signing of the Edo Peace Accord and joined the Labour Party and others to sign the accord on Thursday.
The party, through its state chairman, Emperor Jarret Tenebe had earlier in the day said it would not sign the accord during a press conference at the party secretariat.
He had blamed the killing of the orderly attached to the candidate of the party, Monday Okpebholo for the refusal.
He said the former Commissioner of Police, Funsho “told Nigerians that the command had the names of those who murdered Inspector Onuh Akor at the Benin airport.”
Tenebe said, “This failure of the police has emboldened the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his Peoples Democratic Party to attack members of our political party at rally grounds and in their private business premises ceaselessly.”
He claimed that “In the wake of this very worrisome and dangerous trend, Governor Obaseki kept mute and refused to condemn the attacks as the Chief Security Officer of the state. Instead, one Odion Olaye, the Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress in Edo State, while in the company of Obaseki, openly threatened the country that, “Nigeria will burn if INEC fails to declare the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo as the winner of the September 21, 2024 gubernatorial election.”
He said, “The summary of these episodes is the unwillingness of Obaseki to embrace peace and the refusal of the security agencies to guarantee a peaceful environment for the conduct of the September 21st, 2024 scheduled election.”
However, the party re-entered the venue of the exercise which had former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar as Chairman, waiting to sign the accord alongside other political parties.
The PDP however declined to sign the accord as it threatened on Wednesday, Abubakar announced at the venue.
Although the PDP chairman in the state was present at the venue, he did not explain why the party refused to sign the accord.
Abubakar announced, “As you must have seen in the media, I met the Governor (Godwin Obaseki) yesterday (Wednesday) and he told me that the PDP is not going to sign this peace accord.
“They have made some observations and I was expecting the Chairman of the PDP to come and make that statement. Having waited for him this long, it is just to announce that the PDP said they are not going to sign.”
According to him, the PDP said it would only sign the peace accord if certain conditions were met.
NewsNGR reports that on Wednesday while meeting with Abubakar, Obaseki had said the PDP may not sign the accord, accusing the police of favouring and doing the bidding of the APC.
He alleged that the police had obtained warrants and had been arresting members of the PDP in undisclosed locations.
He warned that “Until everybody (party members) arrested in Edo is released or brought back to Edo to be tried for whatever offences you claimed they have committed, we have no confidence that the police are going to protect us in this election.”
Apart from the APC and its candidate, Okpebholo, who signed the peace accord, the Labour Party and its candidate, Olumide Akpata also signed.
The Accord Party, Accord Alliance, African Action Congress, African Democratic Congress, Action Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance Grand Alliance Grand Alliance (APGA), the Allied Peoples Movement, Action Peoples Party, Labour Party, National Rescue Movement, Peoples Redemption Party, the Social Democratic Party, Youth Party, the Young Progressives Party (YPP) among others also signed the peace accord ahead f the September 21 governorship election.
The National Peace Committee was founded in 2014 as a non-governmental organisation to promote free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
It has Abubakar as its Chairman, while Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (Retired) is the Vice Chairman and Bishop Mathew Kukah is the Convener.
Other members include the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad III, and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, among others.