The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Campaign Council for the Edo State governorship election has urged the federal government to order the arrest and prosecution of those perpetrating electoral violence in the state.
The council also alleged that prominent leaders of the APC had been marked for arrest or assassination before or during the poll.
But the Secretary, Publicity Sub-Committee of the PDP National Campaign Council (PDPNCC), Kola Ologbondiyan, debunked the allegation, alleging that the APC is known for engineering killings in previous elections in Kano, Osun, Akwa Ibom among others.
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The Vice Chairman, Media, and Publicity Committee of the APC Campaign, Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon, alleged at a press conference in Abuja on Friday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate for the election, Governor Godwin Obaseki, had imported militants from Delta and other PDP states for that purpose.
Obahiagbon said, “Let it be known by the whole world that the Governor of Edo State and his government, in continuation of their disregard for the rule of law, democratic ethics and constitutionalism, have intensified their illegal importation of dangerous arms and ammunition, as well as the daily recruitment and importation of notorious thugs and criminals from neighboring PDP states, particularly Delta, for the purpose of causing mayhem and disrupting the peaceful conduct of the election in most parts of Edo State.
But the Secretary Publicity Sub-Committee of the PDP National Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the allegations were misplaced.
“How can we do that? That has shown to Nigerians what the APC intends to do on the election day. Nigerians know those who engineered the killing of our people in Kano, Nigerians know the political party which took thugs to Osun on election day, Nigerians know the political family of people who were arrested on their way to Akwa Ibom to go and cause mayhem on election day.
“So, no follower of the politics of our nation today will take the APC seriously if they make allegations concerning electoral violence because Nigerians know the perpetrators of electoral violence in our country,” he said.
