Governor Godwin Obaseki has accused the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of resorting to blackmail and various forms of political cruelty in a desperate bid to win the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Projects, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki said recent utterances by officials of the APC, particularly the media consultant to the party’s governorship campaign council, Kassim Afegbua, clearly shows their level of desperation.
He stated that the APC was diverting attention to the PDP on the issue of rigging when, in actual fact, it is the APC that is perfecting plans to rig the election.
The statement read: "The infantile statement by the Media Consultant to Edo All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council, Kassim Afegbua, in which he made spurious allegations about plans to rig the September 21 governorship election, should be disregarded as a cocktail of complete falsehood.
"The rambling is just another failed attempt to mislead the public and distract from their own devious plan to rig the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State having realized that they have lost favour with the people and cannot win in a free and fair contest.
"Pray tell, who has been boasting of federal might since the start of the campaigns, harassing and intimidating innocent citizens of the State and members of the opposition? It is rather laughable and interesting that the very thing the APC is already doing is what they are claiming that other persons are doing.
"Does anyone need answers to why the APC in Edo State has been relentless in their campaign of calumny against the State’s Security and Vigilante Network in the run-up to the gubernatorial elections and why they want to by all means discredit and disable the intelligence gathering scheme, which security agencies in the State have confirmed their role in combating crime and criminality, especially in the grassroots?
"They are jittery over their impending loss after presenting an unlettered and incompetent candidate for the office of a governor and have now resorted to machiavellian tactics to subvert the will of Edo people and have perfected these plans and now want to shift attention to other people so as to freely implement their evil plan."
The statement added: "We call on the authorities to place their eyes on Afegbua and the APC because what they are accusing others of is exactly what they are planning to do themselves. This tactic of accusing others of their own devious plot is a strategy that the APC is well known for, and the people of Edo State are too wise to be fooled by vain subterfuge.
"We call on the police, the military, and other security agencies to please have all hands on deck to ensure a level playing field, guaranteeing a free, fair, and credible election in Edo State.
"We urge all Edo citizens to remain calm and come out enmasse on September 21 to vote without fear of intimidation, harassment or violence."
