Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has accused his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki, some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and editors of some leading newspapers of an alleged grand plan to orchestrate a media trial to discredit his victory in the September 21, governorship election and his administration.
The governor who made the accusations in a statement by his chief press secretary, Fred Itua was reacting to the claim by former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka, that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), manipulated the election in favour of the Edo Governor.
According to him, “We are aware that former Governor Godwin Obaseki and some PDP leaders in Edo State, and their supporters had a meeting during the week, with online merchants and editors of leading newspapers; where it was decided that media trial should be the pattern of their current engagement to discredit the very credible Edo election of 21st September.
“The truth of the matter is that INEC conducted a very free and fair, violence-free election acknowledged by domestic observers in their various reports. The PDP leadership in Edo state in its review and report, also acknowledged that APC won the election.
“The latest drama of Osita Chidoka amounts to merely beating about the bush, trying to rake up mud against the election. The PDP should allow the tribunal to do its job in line with established procedures.
“The idea of deploying the services of editors and senior journalists with a marching order to discredit the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo by all means possible is outlandish and self-serving.
“Their identities are now known and will be made public in the coming days. We can see that they have recourse to the social media spaces, pages of national newspapers and pliable national televisions, to push their ugly narratives, that Governor Okpebholo did not win the 21st September governorship election in Edo State.
“By this, we make them all aware that Governor Monday Okpebholo is making good progress in office as the duly elected Governor with an irrevocable mandate for the next four years.”
Itua further stated: “As the duly-elected Governor of Edo State, Governor Monday Okpebholo will not be blackmailed by media propaganda and or paid social media contractors. He has vowed to recover every dime or asset stolen by officials of the Obaseki administration.
“In the coming days, more revelations about the financial heist, contract scams, abuse of power and destruction of Edo State, orchestrated by the Obaseki-led administration will be made known to Edo people.
“This is necessary, as his own progress and contributions to the development of the state, must be reliably measurable and fair when he is assessed.
“Governor Okpebholo has since hit the ground running, and will not be distracted by the shenanigans of paid PDP agents. He will continue to work hard for the Edo people and remedy the mess created by the Obaseki-led administration in eight years.”
He, therefore, warned that Okpebholo “will not sit back and allow a few individuals, who are too timid to allow the will of Edo people stand, sabotage the state.”
“Anyone who runs foul of the law will face the full wrath of the law. Moles and saboteurs planted in different ministries, departments and agencies of government by Obaseki and his cohorts, will soon be exposed; and nothing will stop Governor Monday Okpebholo from standing on the side of truth, fairness, integrity and progress,” he said.
When contacted, the caretaker publicity secretary of PDP, Chris Nehikhare, said the response by the chief press secretary, Fred Itua was an attempt by Governor Monday Okpebholo to conceal systemic rigging of Edo poll, saying the plan will fail.
Nehikhare said, “Our attention has been drawn to a ridiculous and disappointing statement credited to the Chief Press Secretary to the Edo State Governor-select, Monday Okpebholo, where he made laborious and baseless claims in a desperate effort to discredit the independent analysis by the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, a non-partisan research institute, which exposed the widespread manipulation that marred the September 21 governorship election.
“The analysis, backed by incontrovertible evidence and data, clearly showed the orchestration of rigging by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to favor the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The desperate attempts by Okpebholo and his media hirelings to deflect attention from these facts only underscore their fear of the truth and their unwillingness to confront the reality of their fraudulent actions.
We want to categorically state that the centre did not release the report as observers of the election, the analysis is the outcome of careful examination and analysis of documents and data made available to the centre by INEC who are the electoral umpires.
“We sympathize with the Governor-Select and his team because we know they are not very conversant with digital tools or anything that has to do with data, which makes them extremely uncomfortable when confronted with hard facts. This is evident in their reaction to the independent analysis, where instead of addressing the data and evidence presented, they resort to baseless claims and campaigns of calumny”.
