- APC Recklessness Occupied Our Secretariat — PDP
- We’re Reclaimed What Rightfully Belongs To Us — APC
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State have begun a war of words over the rightful ownership of a secretariat.
The tussle for the secretariat thickened on Thursday when, according to the PDP, the APC chairman, Jaret Tenebe, allegedly led a group of armed men to invade the building housing the secretariat.
Condemning the alleged forceful entry of APC members into the secretariat, the PDP described the move as a dangerous invitation to anarchy.
The party called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and urge Governor Monday Okpebholo and the APC to exercise restraint before the situation escalates into serious bloody crisis.
Addressing a press conference in Benin on Friday, the Edo State PDP Chairman, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, accompanied by the party’s Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, and the Director-General of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council for the 21 September 2024 election, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, decried what he described as “increasing climate of terror in the state.”
Aziegbemi stressed that the development was nothing but “executive recklessness and a precursor to anarchy,”
The PDP Chairman accused the APC in Edo State of perpetuating “brigandage, illegality, and violent assaults on democracy.” He warned that if these actions continue unchecked, they could lead to widespread chaos in the state.
“At 1:31 pm on Thursday, 16 January 2025, the APC, using several Hilux vans and other vehicles led by Jaret Tenebe, deployed thugs supported by police officers from the Government House to forcibly remove the PDP from its secretariat on Airport Road, Benin City, the Edo State capital,” Aziegbemi said while narrating how the purported invasion happened.
“The entire operation was violent and brutal, lasting more than an hour. The secretariat was vandalised, banners and materials destroyed, and lives endangered, including mine. I was forcibly removed from my office with the assistance of the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Blessing Agbebaku, amidst violence and assault.” he added.
He continued, “This is arguably the worst attack on democracy in Nigeria since 1999. Even military regimes were not as brutal against dissenting voices as Governor Okpebholo’s administration has been since taking office on 12 November.”
Reacting to the PDP allegations, the Edo APC State Chairman, Jaret Tenebe, said the party had only reclaimed its party secretariat from the PDP, asserting that it remains the legitimate tenant of the building.
He maintained that the property had been rented as the “APC secretariat under a seven-year tenancy agreement before the immediate past governor, Godwin Obaseki, converted it into the PDP secretariat after defecting to the PDP in 2020”.
