PDP denies planning pre-election violence in Edo

With less than five weeks to the general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State has accused the Edo State Government of raising false accusations and fuelling political tension in the state.

The PDP stated this against the backdrop of a statement credited to the state government, where it raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the opposition party to foment violence in Edo, prior to the elections.

The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Louis Odion, had, in a statement on February 19, claimed that the state government had uncovered a plot by the PDP to unleash terror on the state, through high-handed killings, before the March 28 and April 11 polls.

But the PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, on Sunday described the claim as an attempt by the State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to "criminally accuse the PDP in order to divert attention from critical issues in the state."

‎He also said the party had been exonerated by security agencies from the loss of a former aide to the governor‎, adding that people of the state would not be distracted by "unguarded utterances."

Nehikhare said, "It is now customary for Governor Oshiomhole to criminally accuse the PDP whenever he intends to divert attention from burning issues from which he is likely to be damaged."

"Like the governor did in the months preceding the July 2012 elections, he has criminally engaged in false accusations of planned assassination."