Again, APC, PDP in war of words over alleged planned attack

Ahead of the governorship election, the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, alleged that the state government is plotting to stage an attack on their own convoy, specifically that of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, in a bid to draw sympathy, pose as victims, and set the stage for a new wave of violent onslaught on the people of the state.

Addressing journalists in Benin City, the State Chairman of the party, Col. David Imuse (rtd), said   armed thugs for the mission with careful instruction to do enough damage on cars and other disposable items for the media drama that will follow have already been recruited.

‎”In a shocking revelation, it has been shown that the Edo State Government, in connivance with a retired police officer from Kogi State who has been identified in series of violence plots in Edo State and beyond, Mr. Yusuf Haruna, is plotting to stage an attack on their own convoy, specifically that of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, in a bid to draw sympathy, pose as victims, and set the stage for a new wave of violent onslaught on the people of Edo State, some of whom have fallen victims to the reckless shootings of the Governor’s army of thugs and criminals.

“According to reports available to us, Mr. Yusuf Aruna, the mastermind of this disgraceful strategy, has already recruited armed thugs for the mission with careful instruction to do enough damage on cars and other disposable items for the media drama that will follow”, Imuse said.

He also alleged that the propaganda wing and fake news milling machine of the PDP and Mr. Godwin Obaseki have also prepared pre-written scripts containing false and imagined details of how the Deputy Governor “escaped” an attack on his convoy.

“The plan is by upstaging this violent act, they can mischievously and falsely allege that it is the doings of the APC carried out to foil their ‘booming and flourishing campaign’ when in truth, their campaign has collapsed as they are met with rejection in all communities and wards of Edo State because their late-hour candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, a failed incumbent whose only achievement in office is MOUs, which already have been aptly translated by our people as Memorandums of Underdevelopment.

“As a matter of fact, this reprehensible strategy foreshadows the Governor’s full-blown resort to violence as a way to disrupt the election having seen, first-hand, that he stands no chance of victory and will fall embarrassingly to the voting might of Edo people who are tired of his divisive politics, violence, and lies.

“That they have to resort to staging attacks on their own convoy as a way to elicit pity and bring attention to their empty campaign reveals the deep hollowness of the PDP as a party that has run out of fresh and new ideas, hence resorting to desperate measures to disrupt the peaceful conduct of an election it is convinced beyond all doubts that it has no chance of winning”, the APC Chairman further stated.

According him, the principal actors in Edo State Government cannot deny the validity of the leaked information and plan, adding that  the most glaring and indicting factor is easily revealed through asking a simple question: what is Yusuf Haruna, a man who is not from Edo but from Kogi State, and has since retired from the Nigeria Police Force as a Superintendent, doing in the cabinet of Mr. Godwin Obaseki as an adviser on security?

Imuse, therefore, contended that if Haruna’s advice were useful,  Edo State could not have recorded more crimes, including kidnappings and gruesome murders, than most states in the South-South region including those battling militancy in the four years of Godwin Obaseki.

“It is clear to all that Mr. Yusuf Haruna, having retired from the Police but now eyeing a place in mainstream politics, is now the faithful henchman of Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

“Mr. Yusuf Haruna now serves as a pliable tool in Obaseki’s hands to stage violence, assemble cultists and other criminals, and use otherwise classified information obtained through years of service in the Police to perfect illegal proliferation of arms into the wrong hands with hopes that in return, the embattled Governor and his other political allies will fund his political ambitions.

“We are alerting the whole world to this evil and mischievous plan of the PDP so they do not waste their pity on the drama Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Philip Shaibu, and Aruna are already getting set to stage in the coming days, while also repeating our appeal to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to immediately commence the promised clampdown on arms proliferation in the state and the prosecution of all previously arrested persons, particularly the seven who were caught with guns within the premises of the Edo State House of Assembly complex on the day Mr. Godwin Obaseki violated the sanctity of the hallowed chambers and offered the greatest affront to our democracy in Edo State in recent times by leading a retinue of thugs and his partymen to vandalize and destroy the complex to prevent majority house members from carrying out their legislative duties”, Imuse said.

In his reaction, Yusuf Haruna, denied the allegation.