Gov. Godwin Obaseki had, earlier on Wednesday, expressed doubts to Gen. Abdulsalami on whether the party would sign the accord.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The chairman of the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, and the party’s governorship candidate for the September 21 election, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, have boycotted the signing of the peace accord organised by the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee for the 18 political parties and their governorship candidates.
The duo were present at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin, where the event held, but stayed away from signing the accord.
Prominent figures including former Head of State, Gen. Abubakar, Inspector-General of Police Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and Bishop Matthew Kukah, were present at the event.
The leader of the PDP in Edo State, Gov. Godwin Obaseki, had earlier on Wednesday, expressed doubts to Gen. Abdulsalami on whether the party would sign the accord. He said this was due to unchecked intimidation and violence meted upon members of the PDP by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) without redress by the police and other law enforcement agencies.
Similarly, Aziegbemi had earlier expressed concern over the deployment of two associates of ex-Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Anugbum Onuoha and Nemi Edwin-Iwo, as INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo and the state’s Commissioner of Police, respectively.
At about 12:25pm, the leaders who had initially approached the podium to sign the accord, withdrew and proceeded to register their feelings to Bishop Kukah, who was overseeing the signing, and then repeated same to Gen. Abubakar.
The chairman of the national peace committee later announced that Aziegbemi and Ighodalo gave some undisclosed conditions, which they insisted must be met before they would later move to Abuja to sign the peace accord.
as INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, and the state’s Commissioner of Police, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, in the lead up to the September 21 governorship election in Edo.