The Executive Director of pro-democracy group, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, says Thursday’s Peace Accord fallout may impair voters’ turnout in the September 21, 2024 governorship poll in Edo State.
“What has happened today will further escalate the tension,” Itodo said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
“When you have this crisis of confidence, you just give voters so much fear that their votes will not count next week.”
“There is a crisis of confidence in Edo State as it stands,” the YIAGA boss said. “The stage has been set for all forms of post-election disputes.”
He said the peace committee should lower the temperature of tension in the state and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun should call the stakeholders to a meeting and address their concerns.
Though 17 political parties fielding candidates in the poll like the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP), among others, signed the General Abdulsalami Abubakar-led peace pact in Benin City, the state capital, on Thursday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shunned the pre-election ritual.
General Abubakar, former Head of State, said PDP chieftain and outgoing governor Godwin Obaseki said the party won’t sign the peace pact over some allegations levelled against the police.
PDP Chairman in the state, Tony Aziegbemi, also stormed out of the peace pact venue in protest on Thursday. He told journalists on his way out that a member of his party who doubles as Esan West Local Government Area Chairman, Collins Aigbogu, was picked up by the police days ago and had not been released.
“Gentlemen of the press, if it were you as a political party, would you in good conscience sign that Peace Accord? That will be very dishonest,” a furious Aziegbemi said.
Commenting on the dramatic episode in Edo, Itodo said “this is the first time that a political party won’t sign a peace accord” in about a decade.
He urged the PDP and its candidate to sign the accord to de-escalate tension in the state.
According to Itodo, there are fears about the election as politicians are preparing for a showdown.
He warned that if the environment is not safe, voters won’t come out to vote on D-day.
Itodo appealed to security agents and the electoral umpire to conduct themselves in an impartial and unbiased manner.
Itodo said, “I want to call on the IG and the police to invite the stakeholders to a meeting giving the sensitivity of this particular issue and address some of the concerns that they have raised but to also call on the actors on the other side that they need to sheathe their swords, and come to the dialogue table.
“If their (politicians’) concerns are addressed, they should go back to their supporters not to embrace violence.”
He said a lot can be done before the election to boost the confidence of voters.
The forthcoming governorship election in the state has top contenders including PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, LP’s Olumide Akpata, and APC’s Monday Okpebholo.
Ighodalo, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), secured the endorsement of the incumbent governor, who shunned his deputy and party man, Philip Shaibu. Shaibu and former governor Adams Oshiomhole have pledged their support for Okpebholo.
Over 2.6 million registered voters are to decide the next governor of the South-South state.