Barely two days before the house of assembly election in Edo state, the State Deputy Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Jarret Tenebe has been arrested allegedly on the orders of the deputy governor of Edo state Hon Philip Shaibu.
He was said to have been arrested in Ikabigbo his hometown in Etsako West local government area for undisclosed reasons.
Tenebe is a popular mobilizer for the APC and a strong loyalist of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, he has in a recent video accused the deputy governor of sundry issues.
The party had in a press conference in Benin City on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, alleged that the state government planned to rig Saturday’s election using thugs in various disguises.
The state chairman of the party, Col David Imuse (rtd), and the Assistant Publicity Secretary of the APC, Ofure Osehobo both confirmed the arrest but the police is yet to respond to enquiries as the Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor have not picked his calls.
APC Alleges PDP Has ‘Imported Thugs’ For March 18 State Elections
Ahead of the March 11 governorship and National Assembly elections in Katsina State, the campaign council of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has hatched plans to import thugs from Kano and Zamfara states to mar the process.
Calling on security agencies, INEC, and the general public to take note of the alleged plot, the Director General of the Katsina APC Campaign Council, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, at a press conference on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, said: “The Peoples Democratic Party have resolved to foment trouble having realised that they are going to lose the March 11 elections.”
Dangiwa who expressed confidence in an APC victory in the March 11 polls, noted that the party is not afraid of the other contestants, having won all three senatorial seats in the state and nine of the 15 House of Representatives seats.
When asked for evidence of the alleged plot, Dangiwa said: “This is a privilege and confidential information and I am very sure that the security agencies have it by now but it’s good for the entire populace to know also. That is why we have told you this.”
Reacting to the allegation, Alhaji Kabir Yar’Adua, the Director of General, Media, PDP Campaign Council, said the claim is unfounded.
He said: “They are just afraid we will beat them again, just like we did in the presidential election, despite the N11 billion they withdrew from government’s treasury to manipulate the elections.
“No thug is coming in from anywhere. Our thugs are pure ballot papers. That is what we used before and that’s what we will use again to defeat them in the March 11 elections.”
APC Expels Buhari’s Former Aide Ita Enang Over ‘Anti-party Activities’
The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has expelled a former special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, over anti-party activities.
The State Working Committee of the APC ratified recommendations of the party’s Disciplinary Committee regarding the expulsion of the former presidential aide.
The ratification was disclosed on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, in a letter signed by the state party chairman, Hon. Obong Leo Steven Ntukekpo, pursuant to a petition detailing gross anti-party activities by the former legislator written and submitted to the state leadership of the party by his ward chairman in Eastern Ward 2, Ibiono Local Government Area of the state.
The letter also revealed that Enang had been holding clandestine meetings with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state with a view to undermining APC’s chances in the general election and had done so in defiance of the directives of the party.
In the aftermath of the state governorship primaries, Enang had enmeshed the candidate, Obong Akan Udofia, in a flurry of litigations at various courts in Abuja and Uyo until recently when the Court of Appeal in a landmark ruling affirmed Udofia as the valid candidate of the party for the March 11th governorship elections in Akwa Ibom State.
Source: Vanguard
