The All Progressives’ Congress (APC) in Edo state is attempting to intimidate and harass the people to ensure their “perpetually unelectable” candidate wins the upcoming gubernatorial elections, according to Dr. Pedro Obaseki, Deputy Director General of the Asue/Ogie People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Edo 2024 Campaign Management Council.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, September 13, Obaseki alleged that the police in Edo State have shown significant partiality towards the APC, effectively becoming an armed wing of the party.
Obaseki further alleged that the APC has procured police uniforms to dress up their members as policemen on election day, citing the example of Mr. Blessing Agbomere, a contestant in the APC gubernatorial primaries, who was paraded wearing a police uniform with the rank of CSP, making statements designed to disturb public peace.
He also highlighted instances of unfair treatment of PDP members by the police, stating, “In the last three weeks, the Nigerian police, in gestapo style, have busted the homes of chieftains of the PDP, carted them away to unknown locations in total violations of their rights… They can arrest anybody if they so wish, but they cannot take them to places where nobody knows and hold them illegally, unlawfully.”
Obaseki emphasized that the PDP refused to sign the peace accord because the police must “come to the table with clean hands.” He stated, “We cannot at this point allow the APC to see themselves above the law… Edo people are not scared, we are ready for the elections because we are the ones on ground. So, they are the ones trying to hound our people, disrespect the rule of law.”
Obaseki criticized the police for not taking action against offenders, citing the example of APC hoodlums who killed a police officer on July 18 and were shown on ARISE TV and newspapers, yet remain free and are “roaming the streets, pandering and brazenly disregarding process.” He emphasized the importance of bringing these issues to the public domain.
