The Edo State government has accused the All Progressives Congress of disrupting the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise in the state.
Before the commencement of the registration, the acting state chairman of the APC, Jarret Tenebe, in a statement on Sunday, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to cancel the exercise due to the damage to its state headquarters, materials and equipment after a downpour at the weekend.
Not deterred, INEC, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, announced the relocation of the exercise to its secretariat at Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state.
At an earlier press conference on Friday, the APC alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party and INEC were conniving to manipulate the CVR in favour of PDP.
But the allegation was quickly rebuffed by the Edo chapter’s Head of Voters Education and Publicity of INEC, Timidi Wariowei, who described it as unfair.
Following the development, the Edo State government, in a press statement by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, condemned the alleged action of the APC.
It also accused the party of stirring violence and causing crisis in the state, in a move to halt the ongoing CVR.
The government said since the party was not able to halt the exercise, after a failed call on the INEC to do so, it now resorted to violence across the state.
It also condemned the shooting at Idia College, leading to the injury of an innocent student, wondering why an opposition party would choose violence to sell its candidate.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Edo State government has been drawn to deliberate attempts by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stir violence and cause crisis in the state, in a desperate move to halt the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“The state government strongly condemns the recent attack and shooting at Idia College a couple of days ago, which led to the injury of an innocent student.
“To say the least, this is most troubling, disheartening, and shameful and is never a way to play the opposition role expected of a responsible opposition party.
“It is utterly appalling that a political party would resort to attacking a CVR centre to obstruct eligible voters from registering to participate in an election that it is contesting. One is left to wonder how the APC plans to get the electorate to vote for its candidate.”
The state government called on the security agencies to rein in those it termed as agents of violence in the state.
“We say no to such shenanigans and resort to violence by the APC and its agents and call on security agencies to rein in these agents of violence.
“We thank God there was no loss of life from the reprehensible act and are, therefore, warning the APC to desist from this dishonourable conduct and rather embrace democratic norms.
“If the APC has a candidate to sell and believes in the viability and credibility of its candidate, the party should get more people to register and should also campaign to convince the people to vote for him, instead of resorting to attacking Edo people and disrupting the peace in the state,” the statement added.
The government, therefore, urged the people of the state not to be discouraged by the desperate antics of the APC and its agents but to leverage the opportunity of the CVR exercise to register for their Permanent Voter Cards and participate in the September 21 gubernatorial election to ensure a free, fair, and violence-free electoral process.
Reacting, a source close to the APC said the party would make a statement when necessary.
He noted that the police and the Department of State Service were already investigating the matter.
“The APC will come out with a reaction to this allegation when it necessary. Right now, the police and the DSS are already investigating the matter,” the source said.
