As the Edo election petition tribunal resumed sitting in Benin City on Wednesday, leaders of the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, enmeshed in verbal war over the sporadic shooting that rocked the venue of the tribunal.
There were several gun shots at the venue of the tribunal before the arrival of the members of tribunal and the counsel representing the political parties and INEC but it was not immediately known those actually responsible for the shooting.
But while the APC raised the alarm, accusing the PDP of being responsible for the shooting, the PDP said it was clear that the APC wants to apply thuggery and holiganism to frustrate the sitting of the tribunal so as to prevent them from claiming their mandate stolen by the APC.
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The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate at the election, Asue Ighodalo and six other political parties and candidates are challenging the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo of APC as winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The State Acting Chairman of the APC, Jarret Tenebe titled, in a statement condemned the sporadic shooting which he said was carried out by the PDP supporters at the Tribunal venue in Benin City, noting that a tribunal is a sacred space where justice is meant to be administered impartially.
According to him, “Today’s shooting incident within the venue of the Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin City involving members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a deeply disturbing and unacceptable act of violence.
“The Tribunal is a sacred space where justice is meant to be administered impartially. Any act of violence within its walls undermines the very foundation of our legal system and threatens the safety of all involved.
“Regardless of political affiliation, resorting to violence to resolve disputes is never justifiable. We must all condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms.
“Violence has no place in a civilized society, and those responsible for this heinous act must be brought to justice swiftly and without exception”, he said.
The caretaker committee chairman of the PDP in the State, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi also in a statement, however, accused APC of the deployment of masked up thugs to shoot, disrupt tribunal proccedings.
He alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress party in the state was scared of justice which made the party resort to violence.
The PDP caretaker committee chairman statement reads, “the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State who are clearly scared of justice, have continued their devious ploy to frustrate our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from reclaiming the mandate duly given to us by the good people of Edo State in the last governorship election at the Tribunal and have now resorted to deploying thugs disguised in PDP-branded attire to disrupt the legal process, while pointing accusing fingers at our party.
“We strongly dissociate ourselves from the shooting incident that occurred today at the venue of the Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
“We want to unequivocally state that this shameful incident is yet another in the series of clandestine efforts by the APC to frustrate the legal process and tarnish the image of our party.
“Tell me, why would the PDP attempt to disrupt the only opportunity it has to reclaim the mandate given to it by the people of Edo State during the last governorship election?
“The PDP is aware that its only pathway to justice is through the legal process, so it would be utterly senseless for anyone to suggest that the party would deploy thugs to disrupt this very process and jeopardize its own chances.
“We urge the APC to exhibit more intelligence when concocting these lies and peddling their usual falsehoods to advance their devious plans. No one needs to be told that it is the APC that is orchestrating this chaos, resorting to disguising their thugs in PDP-branded attire in a desperate and poorly executed attempt to mislead the public.
“We also want to state that the PDP directed all its supporters and members to stay away from today’s tribunal proceedings. This directive was strictly adhered to because we anticipated APC’s plans to instigate violence and disrupt the proceedings.
“Unfortunately, we did not foresee that they would stoop so low, employing thugs and masking them in PDP-branded attires in their desperate attempt to cling to power at all costs.
“While we are surprised that the police did not arrest the individual who was shooting sporadically in public without restraint, we are calling on them and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the gun-wielding thug, whose face was clearly visible in the video trending on social media, is arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
“The APC must, however, call their thugs, who they describe as lions, and tigers to order. The incident today clearly bears their signature of operation. The same tactics deployed at the tribunal today are being employed in local councils, where thugs are deployed to sack and intimidate duly elected council chairmen out of office.
“The same pattern it deployed in motor parks and markets, where thugs operating under the protection of the state government harass, intimidate, and extort transporters and traders daily without restraint. So, we don’t need to look far to uncover the truth behind these orchestrated acts of violence and intimidation.
“But we say enough is enough of this rascality and lawlessness! This must stop immediately before it leads to a total breakdown of law and order in the State”, Aziegbemi stated.
