The chairman of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe, has berated his counterpart of the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, of wrongly accusing the police, ahead of the September 21 governorship election.
Tenebe, on Sunday, July 28, in Benin, declared that it was uncharitable of Aziegbemi to accuse the police in Edo of selective justice.
He said: “For a man (Aziegbemi) that was kidnapped not too long ago, on his way from the residence of Governor Godwin Obaseki, he should realise that the criminals terrorising Edo State are enemies within them. What the police deserve from him is praise, for rescuing him from his kidnappers’ den, and not baseless castigation.
“The two cases that Aziegbemi mentioned in his statement, demanded appropriate urgent attention by the police to discourage other PDP leaders and members, who are determined to visit violence on the electorate before, during, and after the September 21, 2024 election, which the PDP has vowed to win by all means possible.
“Olu Martins openly ordered PDP-known cultists to unleash violence on members of the opposition parties in Edo State. He went further to supervise the destruction of campaign billboards of opposition parties across the state. One wonders if Aziegbemi was expecting the police to allow Martins and his irks to cause more havoc, before arresting him.
“More debasing of Aziegbemi’s position is his fault finding in the APC’s petition to the Inspector-General of Police on the murder of Inspector Onuh Akor, the security aide to distinguished Senator Monday Okpebholo, who was murdered in Benin City.
“Hard as Aziegbemi and his PDP would want to subvert investigation, the circumstance that led to the unfortunate incident speaks for itself. Those who murdered Inspector Akor were stationed at the airport exit gate, in a marked Sienna Bus, with an Asue-Ogie sticker.
“What Aziegbemi is short of saying is that the APC’s supporters who had come to welcome the reinstated Edo deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, and the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, decided to shoot at themselves. The incident does not demand special investigation skill to establish the fact that the killers of Inspector Akor were dispatched by PDP to stop the convoy from leaving the airport.”
Edo chairman of APC also described Aziegbemi’s “baseless complaint” as a mere excuse for the imminent defeat that awaited PDP and its candidate (Dr. Asue Ighodalo) on September 21, while advising him (Aziegbemi) to reserve his tears till September 22, when the Independent National Electoral Commission would have pronounced Okpebholo the winner of the poll.