Just in: APC withdraws from Edo election peace accord signing

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced its withdrawal from the Peace Accord signing, less than two hours before the ceremony.

This development comes just 12 hours after Gov. Godwin Obaseki expressed similar reservations, stating that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) might not sign the accord due to a lack of trust in the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Emperor Jarret Tenebe, addressing a media briefing at the party secretariat, attributed APC’s refusal to sign the peace accord to various factors.

He mentioned one of the reasons for the failure to apprehend and prosecute those responsible for the murder of Police Inspector Onuh Akor, the orderly attached to their candidate, Sen. Monday Okpebholo.

The lack of action, he said, contradicts the promises made by the state’s former Police Commissioner, Funsho Adegboye, who vowed to bring the perpetrators of the Airport Road crime to justice after allegedly identifying them.

He stated that instead of arresting them, Obaseki is allegedly keeping them in the government house.

Tenebe said: “This failure of the police has emboldened the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and his People’s Democratic Party to attack members of our political party at rally grounds and in their private business premises ceaselessly.”

While mobilizing supporters for the election, he chronicled the various attacks the APC campaign team has suffered in different communities in Akoko-Edo, Etsako Central, and Esan West local government areas.

He said: “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 accused several high-ranking PDP officials of publicly gloating about their ability to act with impunity and expressed frustration that the party’s petitions to the police, which included names of suspected perpetrators, have been disregarded.

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 September 21st, 2024, scheduled election.”

Tenebe asserted that in order to sign the peace accord, the police must take tangible steps to identify and apprehend those responsible for the police officer’s murder, who are purportedly receiving government protection.