By Precious Igbonwelundu

Lagos State Police Command has deployed 1,000 cops in Edo State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

The deployment followed a directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, for enhanced security before, during and after the election.

Adamu had announced the deployment of 30,000 police officers to be drawn from commands and formations for the poll.

The Nation last week reported that intelligence reports available to the police indicated that politicians were arming and shipping thugs to Edo State for violence, a development the IGP warned against.

READ ALSO: 1,000 Lagos policemen for Edo polls

Admonishing the Lagos contingent yesterday, Police Commissioner (CP) Hakeem Odumosu said they must exhibit professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

Odumosu, according to a statement by spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi told them that the focus of the command was the sustenance of democratic values through fair, free and credible elections.

He assured them that their welfare had been approved by the IGP, saying the package was a morale booster for those sent for the operation.

By Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

A group under the auspices of Edo Community Leaders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security operatives to abide by the law ahead of Saturday’s election.

It said due diligence will further ensure peaceful conduct of the September 19 governorship poll.

The President of the Edo Community Leaders in the FCT, Dickson Omoregie, briefing reporters in Abuja, also enjoined politicians in Edo State to eschew violence and embrace peace.

READ ALSO: 1,000 Lagos policemen for Edo polls

He said: “As stakeholders, we have been following the build ups and developments as we approach the election date and are worried about the arbitrary divisions of our state by politicians along partisan divides, with little or no respect for pre-existing historic, cultural, social and political groupings, which may further complicate the state of community cohesion and task of post-election sustainable development.

“We will like to thank our royal father and the Chairman of the Edo State Traditional Council, the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, for his wise and timely counsel to the parties, contestants and their supporters across political divides, which set the tone for this news conference, which is primarily centred on the need for a peaceful and well administered election across the state, despite the inflammatory and aggressive rhetoric during campaigns.

Nicholas Kalu, Abuja with agency report

In line with the efforts to ensure adequate security for the governorship election in Edo State next Saturday, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has deployed DIG Adeleye Olusola Oyabade, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Research and Planning, to supervise the general security arrangement for the election.

A statement issued by Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, Oyabade will be assisted by AIG Karma Hosea Hassan, the Assistant Inspector General in charge of Federal Operations at the Force Headquarters Abuja, and eight Commissioners of Police.

Mba said the DIG, assisted by the AIG, will superintend over the entire security architecture and ensure effective monitoring of the election and due enforcement of all electoral laws in the state.

The statement said “other senior police officers similarly involved (in election monitoring and evaluation) include:  CP Garba Baba Umar, CP Habu Sani and CP Buba Sanusi.

“CP Akeera M. Yonous will coordinate the operations of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) and other special strike forces.

“The other four (4) CPs will supervise security arrangement in the three senatorial districts of the State. They are CP Omololu S. Bishi and CP Abutu Yaro, Edo North senatorial district; CP Philip Aliyu Ogbadu, Edo Central Senatorial District and CP Olokade T. Olawale, Edo South Senatorial District.

“Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police has barred security aides attached to VIPs and political appointees from accompanying their principals on Election Day. The IGP warns that anyone who flouts this order will be severely reprimanded.

“The IGP also charges officers and men on election duties in the state to ensure they work in line with standard best practices and adhere strictly with the approved Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for the elections.

“He calls on members of the public, particularly politicians, gubernatorial candidates and other relevant stakeholders in the state to cooperate with the police and other security agencies in the patriotic task of guaranteeing a hitch-free gubernatorial poll.”

READ ALSO: Edo 2020: I will defeat Oshiomhole in his ward, Shaibu boasts

Traditional rulers ask electorate to vote their choice

The state Council of Traditional Rulers yesterday asked the people to vote the candidate of their choice.

The council made the call during a press conference shortly after their quarterly meeting presided over by the council’s Chairman, Oba Ewuare II, in Benin.

The council also cautioned against political partisanship by traditional rulers in the state ahead of the poll.

They urged eligible voters across the state to come out en masse to exercise their constitutional right of voting a candidate of their choice without fear.

The council described peace as non-negotiable in the state before, during and after the election.

The council resolved, among other things, to intensify prayers and traditional means of ensuring absolute peace before, during and after the election.

It also dwelt on the worsening security situation across many villages and communities, especially villages in Edo North Senatorial District of the state.

The traditional rulers insisted that the various security agencies must live up to their responsibilities to protect lives and property, especially the worsening case of adoption by suspected Fulani herders.

The council hailed the Benin monarch for calling on the two main political gladiators to eschew violence during campaigns.

The council described the peace pact as unprecedented, noting that it had started yielding positive outcome across the state.

By Bisi Olaniyi, Southsouth Bureau Chief 

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State are at war over the speculated resignation of the state’s Chairman of PDP, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, and his defection to APC.

Edo PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, yesterday in an online statement blamed the APC for the speculation on resignation of Aziegbemi, describing the information as fake news and a hoax.

It said: “The rumour is the fabrication of members of APC in their last minute and desperate efforts to save an unpopular candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, from quitting the governorship race, which the party is set to lose.

“With just a week to the September 19 election, and worried by the lack of acceptance of its candidate, the APC has resorted to desperate and unconventional campaign tactics, fake news, deceit and falsehood to attempt to sway Edo voters.

READ ALSO: IGP deploys DIG, AIG, eight CPs for Edo gov elections

“The Chairman of PDP in Edo State, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, has not resigned from the PDP. He is committed to leading the party to victory on September 19, with the party’s standard bearer, Governor Godwin Obaseki.”

The PDP in Edo also urged the people of the state to ignore the “shenanigans of the APC” and come out en masse to re-elect Obaseki on election day.

Edo APC, through the Chairman of its Media Campaign Council, Prince John Mayaki, however, denied knowledge of the news, noting that it had nothing to do with the party.

It said: “We are not aware of Aziegbemi’s resignation. He has no need resigning, because he will go down in history as a party chairman that could not deliver his candidate to victory.

“For our victory to be memorable, we need to beat someone, and Aziegbemi is one of those that will cry the morning after September 19, 2020, along with Godwin Obaseki, the governorship candidate of PDP in Edo.”

Fourteen political parties are participating in the crucial poll next Saturday, but the battle will be between Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu to determine who will be inaugurated as governor on November 12 this year.

Agency Reporter

We have it on good authority that within two weeks, Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have ferried into Edo, busloads of thugs from neighbouring PDP states,” the All Progressives Congress (APC) Media Campaign Council has alleged.

A statement by the Chairman of the council, Mr. John Mayaki, alleged: “Buses loaded with strange faces have been spotted entering Benin City, capital of Edo State. The buses with unidentifiable registration numbers have been sighted around Ring Road, making their way to the Government House, Benin as well as other major cities in the three senatorial districts.”

He added: “While their mission may not be immediately clear, intelligence report indicates that the manner and consistency of entry, the direction of the buses and the all-male occupants, justify reports that Governor Obaseki is recruiting thugs and on a mission to set Edo State ablaze with violence.

“The buses, Toyota products, have been shipping into town suspected thugs in droves who, according to credible intelligence gathering, are now being camped at the Government House for preliminary briefing and training before dispatching them for the election.

The Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, declared as false, allegation by the APC that thugs were being ferried into the Government House.

Osagie, who made the declaration in a statement issued in Benin City, said: “Convinced that its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is no match for Governor Obaseki, APC is churning out lies and propaganda in its bid to get the September 19 poll cancelled or postponed.”We have it on good authority that within two weeks, Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have ferried into Edo, busloads of thugs from neighbouring PDP states,” the All Progressives Congress (APC) Media Campaign Council has alleged.

A statement by the Chairman of the council, Mr. John Mayaki, alleged: “Buses loaded with strange faces have been spotted entering Benin City, capital of Edo State. The buses with unidentifiable registration numbers have been sighted around Ring Road, making their way to the Government House, Benin as well as other major cities in the three senatorial districts.”

He added: “While their mission may not be immediately clear, intelligence report indicates that the manner and consistency of entry, the direction of the buses and the all-male occupants, justify reports that Governor Obaseki is recruiting thugs and on a mission to set Edo State ablaze with violence.

“The buses, Toyota products, have been shipping into town suspected thugs in droves who, according to credible intelligence gathering, are now being camped at the Government House for preliminary briefing and training before dispatching them for the election.

The Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, declared as false, allegation by the APC that thugs were being ferried into the Government House.

Osagie, who made the declaration in a statement issued in Benin City, said: “Convinced that its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is no match for Governor Obaseki, APC is churning out lies and propaganda in its bid to get the September 19 poll cancelled or postponed.”

From Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

Edo State chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are bickering over Channels Television’s debate, ahead of the September 19 governorship election.

Edo APC, on Thursday in an online statement by the Chairman of its Media Campaign Council, Prince John Mayaki, warned PDP’s governorship candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki, not to run away from Channels TV’s debate, stressing that he had shown a penchant for giving flimsy excuses for non-appearance at debates.

The statement said assured that residents and other lovers of democracy would be treated to erudite debate from the APC standard-bearer, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, especially with his well-articulated SIMPLE agenda manifesto.

The APC campaign council said debate was a very important part of a free and fair election, stressing that advanced countries of the western world adopted debate because it allowed people to know how brilliant and purposeful the candidates could be, when faced with one another’s ideas.

PDP through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, said only Obaseki had workable agenda of Making Edo Great Again (MEGA).

It described Ize-Iyamu’s SIMPLE agenda manifesto as worthless.

PDP said the governor was ready to debate, noting that it would give him the opportunity to speak about his numerous achievements in almost four years and his consolidation plans, when re-elected on September 19, to continue his good programmes.

From Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has assured workers of institutionalising a better civil service if voted into power.

He promised to improve their welfare and train them at home and abroad, to develop their skills.

Ize-Iyamu spoke on Thursday in Benin while addressing the workforce during a meeting with workers under the aegis of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

He described members of both unions as well informed and the engine room of any government.

Ize-Iyamu said: “I believe in making Edo State move forward. Government must invest in its workforce. We need to bring more people into the civil service and appreciate some retired workers.”

The Chairman of NLC Edo chapter, Comrade Sunny Osayande, hailed the governorship candidate of the APC for visiting them with his developmental agenda intended to reposition the state.

Agency Reporter

The Obaseki family of Benin Kingdom has reaffirmed support for the re-election of their son and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Godwin Obaseki.

It promised to mobilise other members of the family at home and in the diaspora to ensure the governor’s victory on September 19.

William Gaius Obaseki, who spoke in Benin City on behalf of the Obaseki Ogbeide-Oyo family, during the 100th remembrance anniversary of their late patriarch, Agho Obaseki, hoped that the governor’s performance would earn him re-election.

He said the family would on September 19 stop all activities to vote for their son, Governor Obaseki, to ensure he emerges victorious.

“We want to assure our son that we are solidly behind him. We will support him and ensure he comes out victorious on September 19. It will not just be a victory but a landslide victory for the governor.

“Don’t be afraid of anything; forget the rumour that thugs have been imported into the state. We don’t have factories for thugs, but we believe only in God. God gave him victory before and that same God will again give him victory on September 19. God has not failed us before and can’t start it now; victory is sure for our son,” William Gaius Obaseki said.

Governor Obaseki said the family has continued to offer great service to Edo people and the monarchy of the Great Benin Kingdom.

By Bisi Olaniyi, Southsouth Bureau Chief

The Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has called for full protection of corps members that will participate in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.

He made the call in his palace Thursday in Benin, when the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, visited him.

Oba Ewuare II stressed that the corps members must be adequately protected, in view of the desperation of some politicians, who would want to win the election at all costs.

Read Also: ‘Obaseki blackmailing Edo teachers to support re-election’

The first-class monarch noted that the concept of the NYSC to foster national unity and understanding must be upheld.

Oba of Benin also pointed out that the palace’s authorities were doing everything within their powers to ensure safety of corps members in Edo state, before during and after the crucial poll.

The Director-General of NYSC, earlier in his remarks, declared that the corps members should not take sides, but they must discharge their patriotic duties to their fatherland, in order to move Nigeria forward.

Ibrahim disclosed that NYSC was closely working with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, ahead of the nationwide orientation camps’ opening for fresh corps members, for the exercise to be pandemic free.