Oshiomhole Already Jittery about Edo Governorship Election, Says Okowa

• Denies planning to undermine Edo election

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has described as laughable and baseless the reported allegation credited to his Edo State counterpart, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, that he had plans to undermine the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State through the use of thugs.

Okowa noted that the said allegation by Oshiomhole could only be promoted by palpable fears that his All Progressives Congress (APC) would lose the governorship election to the rival PDP.

The Delta State governor, who restated his support for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo State gubernatorial election, Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, dismissed the allegation of the Edo State Government that he was recruiting thugs to undermine the Edo election..

Okowa said the statement was simply “baseless and indicative of loss of confidence of the APC-led government to woo voters based on track records of its achievement.”

The reaction is contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Okowa, Mr Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, in response to the allegation by the Edo State Government.

It stated that it was “preposterous for the Edo state government to expect that Deltans would leave their constituencies and embark on a wild goose chase of registering to vote in Edo State.”

“The Edo State Government has also betrayed its ignorance of the workings of the Permanent Voter Card, which makes multiple registration impossible”, it pointed out, asking the APC in the state to restrict itself to issues rather than resort to name-calling.

“Governor Okowa is too refined to engage in such clandestine activities to the extent of decimating his own support base by encouraging his constituents to register in another state. What becomes the fate of Delta political stakeholders who would rely on the votes of those people in subsequent elections?”, the statement asked.

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