By Ogochukwu Isioma
The main opposition All Progressives Congress in Edo State, has condemned the alleged plan by some civil society activists to hold a mass protest and paralyse Benin City, the State capital on Thursday(today), over the outcome of the 2023 presidential elections.
Tinubu, presidential candidate of the APC, was in the wee hours of Wednesday, declared the winner of the keenly contested February 25 presidential election by chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.
The former Lagos governor polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party’s Peter Obi who had 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively.
In a statement signed by Victor Ofure Osehobo, Assistant State Publicity Secretary, the APC accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of allegedly being behind the planned protest over his party’s candidate, Atiku’s loss in the Saturday’s poll.
“The party is aware that some notorious arrow heads of the planned protests have been contacted by the Edo state government whose head Mr Godwin Obaseki is lamenting his party, the PDP’s loss of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state,” the APC claimed.
“Mr Obaseki is sponsoring protests across the state against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a way of instigating chaos so that the commission will not hold the State Assembly elections in Edo,” alleged Osehobo.
The opposition party further claimed that, “We are aware that the governor has held clandestine meetings with various groups, including a section of the media, to recruit them for their dubious protest and create panic in Edo State. We want to say they will fail, as Nigerians of Edo origin have seen through their scam and will not be swayed by the failed PDP governor.
“We are also aware that Mr Obaseki has paid the Labour Party in the state huge sums so that they will join the protests. Undoubtedly, public funds have been deployed to sponsor this fake and unnecessary exercise.
“These antics are too glaring for Nigerians not to notice. The dirty tricks point to one and one thing only: The PDP led by Mr Obaseki is mortally terrified of the forthcoming State Assembly elections because he knows he will surely lose.”
The APC called on security agencies in the state to be on the alert “so that innocent citizens can go about their lawful duties unmolested by a few disgruntled elements disguised as activists protesting an election which has been acclaimed as the most credible by international observers.”
It added, ”On our part, we will continue to appeal to youths in our state to go about their normal activities and refrain from being deceived into a mob action that will serve no other purpose except to disrupt the public peace.
“We call on parents and guardians to talk to their children and wards to take heed and shun any invitation to join any protest at this time, as it will be counterproductive.”
The Edo State Government was yet to react to the allegations by the APC as at the time of filing this report. Spokesman for the Edo police command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, denied knowledge of any planned protest.