By Gabriel Enogholease and Ozioruva Aliu
THE Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State Friday said its major contender in the September 19th governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not have a candidate in the election.
Addressing a press conference in Benin City on the recent transfer of five cases from the Federal High Court for relocation, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chris Nehikhare said Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is the candidate of the “a group not known to the part, Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), they are wasting the time of the court because they want to delay it as much as possible that is why they are shopping from place to place trying to waste the time of the judiciary, cases that can be handled are being dragged here and there.
“APC and EPM are dangers to democracy just like they are a danger to the legislative of Edo state doing things illegally.”
He said the transfer of the cases as a result of a request by the APC, in which the party alleged that justices in the entire Benin Division of the Federal High Court had shown bias against the party was false.
“The APC also made wild and unsubstantiated allegations of bias against Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court Benin and Justice Taiwo Taiwo in Abuja, and assaulted their character.
In a reaction, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Azebamwan dispelled the issues raised by Nehikhare.
He said: “The EPM is not a political party, it was Anselm Ojezua the chairman of APC who was removed in November 2019 that is misinforming the party he has been planted like a mole in the APC by Governor Godwin Obaseki. The PDP is resorting to this because it discovered that it does not have a manifesto for the state until Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu came with the SIMPLE agenda and he then brought MEGA which means he never had any agenda for the people of Edo state so what he had said is irrelevant.
Also, the Chairman, APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki accused the PDP of trying to drag the judiciary into politics.
“The chief judge of the Federal High Court acted on the merit of the APC application and did what honest and proper procedure demanded,” a release by the Edo APC campaign explained. “How that equated an attack on the judiciary and forum-shopping only exists in the PDP’s jittery and frenzied application.”
