A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Edo State, Emmanuel Odigie, has explained the reason the party declined to sign the peace accord with other parties ahead of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Odigie, a former spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Integrity Group, spoke on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Monday.
He said, “The PDP has made demands, they never said they won’t sign. All they want is for the Special Forces to be withdrawn out of Edo. We already have a very effective state police command, so why bring in these Special Forces to Edo to harass people?” Odigie queried.
He maintained that the PDP is ready to sign the peace accord if the Federal Government can meet the party’s demand.
On why he left the APC for the PDP, Odigie claimed that he resigned his membership of the APC due to the lack of internal democracy and imposition of “the most incompetent candidate” on the people of Edo State.
He went ahead to defend Governor Godwin Obaseki’s statement that the election is a do-or-die affair, explaining that that if the people do not vote, they would die of hunger, and so the governor was only saying that if people do not vote they would die of starvation.
Peace Accord Fallout
When political parties participating in the Edo election signed a peace accord on Thursday to shun violence, PDP declined to participate in what has become a pre-election ritual in Nigeria’s electoral space.
Former Head of State, General Adulsalami Abubakar, who is the head of the Peace Committee had said that PDP chieftain and outgoing governor (Obaseki) said the party won’t sign the peace pact over some allegations levelled against the police.
PDP Chairman in the state, Tony Aziegbemi, also stormed out of the peace pact venue in protest on Thursday.
He told journalists on his way out that a member of his party who doubles as Esan West Local Government Area Chairman, Collins Aigbogu, was picked up by the police days ago and had not been released.
