The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has pulled out from signing the Peace Accord.
This comes hours after Governor Godwin Obaseki and the PDP also announced their withdrawal from signing the accord.
Chairman of APC in Edo State, Emperor Jarret Tenebe who addressed newsmen at the party’s secretariat in the state, attributed APC’s refusal to sign the peace accord to various factors.
According to him, 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, was one of the reasons for the withdrawal.
Tenebe said this failure was in contradiction to 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 accused the governor of keeping them in the government house, instead of arresting them.
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.”
He also mentioned several attacks the APC campaign team has suffered in different communities in Akoko-Edo, Etsako Central, and Esan West local government areas.
The APC chairman 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.”
For the APC to sign the peace accord, he noted, the police must take tangible steps to identify and apprehend those responsible for the police officer’s murder, whom he claimed are under government protection.
