Television Nigerian

In Benin City, the capital of Edo state, thugs associated with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) recently looted the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

When the armed thugs overran the Edo State PDP Secretariat on Airport Road, traders and store owners fled for their lives, causing mayhem throughout the city.

According to witnesses, the attackers entered chanting war songs and firing intermittently into the air. They were headed by a man described as Kapuepue, the younger brother of APC Youth Leader Tony Kabaka.

Before overwhelming security personnel and breaking in, they allegedly demolished billboards and banners outside the facility.

According to reports, the group damaged buildings, stole valuables, and attacked employees.

Inside the secretariat, they smashed doors and windows, ransacked offices, and carted away computers, printers, and large bags filled with files and documents.

“They said PDP is dead, so nobody should come here again or they will kill us next time.

“They came looking for original copies of our election petition evidence, but they didn’t find any. All they took were photocopies and other documents,” an administrative officer at the secretariat simply identified as Ruth said.

The attack comes amidst a contentious legal battle over the results of the September 21 gubernatorial election.

Read Also: Customs Seize N3bn Worth of Contraband in Four Months – Controller

PDP leaders have accused the APC of orchestrating the violence to intimidate them and disrupt the party’s challenge at the election tribunal.

Andrew Enantomhen, a PDP youth leader, called the attack a desperate move by APC supporters.

“They have temporarily stolen our mandate and are now trying to cover their tracks. Why are they looking for documents? The case has already been filed in court. Justice will be served in Edo State,” he said.

In addition, Enantomhen pleaded with the police to bring peace, cautioning that if the violence persists, party members could have to defend themselves.

“It is quite disappointing and unfortunate that the APC, on Thursday, mobilized thugs to attack our party Secretariat in their desperation to frustrate and halt efforts by our great party to reclaim the mandate duly given to it by the Edo people at the September 21 governorship election,” said Chris Osa Nehikhare, the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee’s publicity secretary.

“Why are the APC agitated and organizing thugs to attack the PDP Secretariat if they are certain that they won the election without any problems and have nothing to conceal?
“The PDP is unwavering in its resolve to seek justice and the reinstatement of our mandate, and we will not be intimidated or discouraged.”

The North-Central All Progressives Congress, or APC, Forum, has maintained that it based its accusations of unfair appointments against Senator George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on grievances from North-Central zone stakeholders.

Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, provided the explanation on Tuesday in response to a statement by Terrence Kuanum, the SGF’s spokeswoman, characterizing the Forum’s accusations against Akume as untrue and deceptive.

In a statement signed by Zazzaga and issued following a meeting in Abuja on Sunday, the North-Central APC Forum accused Akume of giving preference to the Tiv people of Benue State in appointments made by the Office of the SGF.

Additionally, the Forum stated that the region is not seeing the effects of Akume’s tenure as SGF, which he claimed was allotted to the North-Central by the APC. The SGF was advised by the APC Forum to lead the zone and bring the whole North-Central region along in appointments.

Zazzaga threatened that if the SGF doesn’t alter his leadership style by bringing the whole North-Central along, the organization would organize demonstrations and agitation against him.

However, the North-Central APC Forum is being sponsored to target Akume and President Bola Tinubu, according to a statement issued Monday by Terrence Kuanum, Special Adviser, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Public Affairs.

Although the SGF is not in charge of the President’s selections, the statement acknowledged that he has drawn numerous projects to the entire North-Central.

The statement added that Zazzaga had voiced the North-Central APC Forum’s pleasure with the SGF’s “purposeful take off of duties” since taking office during the North-Central APC’s third quarter meeting in Jos in 2023.

In a statement issued by Zazzaga during a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, the SGF of the North-Central APC Forum responded that the accusations of imbalanced appointments against Akume were based on grievances from APC stakeholders in the North-Central region.

The Zone A Peoples Assembly (ZAPA), a Benue organization, released a statement in August 2023 calling the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, to call the SGF to order over imbalanced appointments in favor of his Jemgbagh kinsmen of the Tiv ethnic group. The North-Central APC Forum cited this declaration.

Furthermore, Zazzaga pointed out that the SGF had strayed from the leadership style that caused the North-Central APC Forum to praise him in 2023.

“The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum has been alerted to a statement entitled ‘SGF AKUME FOCUSED ON THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO HIM BY MR PRESIDENT, NOT DETERRED BY ACTS OF MISCHIEF MAKERS,'” which characterized claims of lopsided appointments against the SGF as misleading and untrue.

For the record, the North-Central APC Forum members aren’t troublemakers; we are legitimate APC members who genuinely care about the party and the nation. Our concerns regarding the SGF’s uneven and unbalanced appointment process were based on our observations, primarily on grievances from North-Central stakeholders.

It is documented that in August 2023, the Zone A Peoples Assembly (ZAPA), a group of Benue natives led by its president, Fannen Mondo, issued a statement requesting that His Royal Majesty, the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, summon Senator George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), to rectify what it described as unequal appointments that favored the people of the Jemgbagh extraction of the Tiv nation in Benue State.

Additionally, the group criticized the appointment of Dr. Tyover Dajo, a member of the Akume Dajo family and a relative of the SGF, as Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Wannune in the state’s Tarka Local Government Area (LGA). ZAPA claims that the SGF planned to replace Prof. Joseph Utsev, whom he had chosen as minister, with his cousin, Dr. Tyover Dajo, as Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Wannune. At the moment, Prof. Joseph Utsev serves as the Water Resources Minister.

“We want to make it clear that Akume is not demonstrating good leadership and statecraft in the moves he is making in the recent past,” ZAPA stated in the statement, urging the Tor Tiv to call the SGF to order. It is now evident that he is purposefully focusing his allegiance solely on Jemgbagh, the little town from which he hails, rather than the greater Tiv race or even Benue State, where he is, in a sense, the highest official in the government.

Read Also: President Ramaphosa assumes G20 leadership, succeeding Brazil’s Lula

The SGF claimed that after praising him in 2023, we are now criticizing him. Should we remain silent if he modified his leadership style after we gave him a passmark in 2023? Are we not allowed to voice our opinions?

“Yes, we praised the SGF for his good leadership in 2023, but he later changed and began appointing only his own people, ignoring other North-Central residents.” As North-Central stakeholders, we cannot remain mute in the face of this aberration.

“We question, ‘Who then is making the recommendations for those appointments?’ since the SGF claims that Mr. President is the one making appointments.

They ought to disclose to us who suggested the Water Resources Minister, a relative of his wife. Appointments have even been made by the Water Resources Minister from the village where the SGF wife lives. Who suggested that the Chairman of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri’s Governing Council, the Executive Director of the Federal Housing Authority, the MD Shippers’ Council, and other individuals from his village be appointed?

Nigerians are being challenged to verify who is being appointed to posts in the numerous agencies that fall under the Ministry of Water Resources.

We don’t want to be too specific because the goal of our previous call was to get the SGF to adopt a new leadership style that would involve the entire North-Central zone. We want him to demonstrate leadership and bring the North-Central together.

“We are not supported by any organization or person, nor are we blackmailing him as his representatives asserted. We are merely expressing our worries as valid North-Central APC stakeholders.

However, if the SGF declines to lead our call, we will be forced to provide additional evidence to support our concerns. We will also stage protests to demand that he either resign from his current position on behalf of the North-Central or change his flawed leadership style; if he does not, we will demand his removal.

Michael Ogunsina, the acting publicity secretary for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, has said that the APC lacks the guts to approach Nigerians about holding another election.
Nigerians are eager to be free of the suffering caused by the APC in 2027, according to the PDP chieftain.
He asserts that the APC and bandits are the same in that they both bring grief and tears to their victims wherever they go.

In a statement released in Ibadan yesterday, Ogunsina made the declaration in reaction to assertions made by Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the APC, that the party will win the governorships of Oyo and Osun States after winning the election in Ondo State.

Read Also: Super Eagles’ defeat to Rwanda: Troost-Ekong takes accountability

But according to the PDP mainstay, Ganduje’s remarks are just wishful thinking, and Nigerians are fervently hoping they won’t encounter the APC again.

“There is no difference between the forest gangs known as bandits and the power band called APC,” he said. Both bring destruction, grief, and tears wherever they go.

The fact that our national grid is collapsing every hour as the APC leaders’ avarice for power and more power is growing is shocking and unfortunate. Where the APC and its government still find the bravery to address Nigerians about the election makes us tremble.