…I stand by my allegation, Edo gov
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Delta State Government have come down hard on Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, describing his allegation of planned rigging of the suspended governorship election in the state with 8,000 militants as “fit only for kindergarten’s tales by moonlight.”
Oshiomhole had, while playing host to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris at Government House Benin City on Friday, accused South-South governors of plotting to rig the election with the aid of 8, 000 militants.
He said: “Our opponents, unable to find local thugs to help them perpetrate violence which they have done between 1999 and 2007 when I took over, resorted to liaising with my brothers in the sub-region, Delta and Rivers, in particular, to export criminals and militants into Edo State in order to make peaceful election impossible.” But the PDP National Secretariat described him as a “pathological liar” who should not be taken seriously, while Delta State Government in its response said it “is consistent with his (Oshiomhole’s) favourite pastime of heating up the polity with unguarded utterances and wild allegations.”
Prince Dayo Adeyeye, PDP National Publicity Secretary said in an interview on Saturday that Oshiomhole was doing everything to prevent his humiliation in the election. “It is a lie. How do you register militants? Everybody in Edo knows that it is a lie. He is a man that cannot be taken seriously.
You remember that it is the same Oshiomhole that said he heard in America that one minister alone has $6 billion in his account. The American Embassy had to refute it. “If a governor is lying like that it belittles the office, it is a shame.
It is a big shame to him and his party. He should not be taken seriously. He is a pathological liar; he is just doing everything to prevent his humiliation in the election,” he said. Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tim-George, also described as untrue and fallacious, allegations that Governor Nyesom Wike donated the sum of N2billion to the Edo PDP, saying that it was a figment of their imaginations.
Also the Delta State Government in a statement by the Commissioner for Infor-mation, Mr. Patrick Ukah, said the allegation was baseless, unfounded, spurious and tendentious, adding: “We vehemently reject this accusation as alarmist in conception, reckless in delivery, puerile in content and false in facts and, so, fit only for kindergarten’s tales by moonlight. Governor Okowa is a peace loving Nigerian who has never and will not engage in any activity inimical to law and order.”
PDP Edo State chapter also did not spare Oshiomhole either, as its chairman, Chief Dan Osi Orbih said the governor has “penchant for making unsubstantiated allegations.” Orbih noted that such allegation smacked of serious indictment on the nation’s security agencies for such number of illegal group to walk into Edo State undetected.
“I find it disgusting that the governor could indict security agencies in the manner he has just done. I mean it is serious indictment on the security agencies to say that 8000 militants could quietly walk into Edo from Port Harcourt and Delta State without being detected.
“I see this allegation as a pointer to the fact that the governor is an incurable liar. He has gone further to accuse governors of Rivers and Delta states of providing a N2 billion donation. He is talking as if he is talking to a gathering of illiterates,” he wondered. Chief Orbih noted that “N2 billion is not N2 million nor N20, 000,” which nobody can carry in a briefcase.
“The only way to do that is through electronic transfer. As far as I know, our accounts are there for everyone to see. We have not received any contribution of even N2 million from any governor. “I challenge him to show evidence of his claims because each time I accuse him of fraud, I always come out with government vouchers signed by him to substantiate whatever I said.”
