Edo, Nasarawa PDP condemn attack on governor, warn against poll’s rigging

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State yesterday staged a peaceful protest against the attack on Governor Ayodele Fayose.They warned against intimidation of voters and attempts to rig tomorrow’s election.The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Chris Nehikhare, led the members in a peaceful protest from the Edo State secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), to the state Police Command, Benin City.He said the PDP as a family believes in the rule of law and wants free and fair election and not war.

Nehikhare, who also decried the deployment of heavily armed security personnel, including the over 30,000 policemen, said the motive was to create unnecessary tension, as well as to intimidate voters.

Also, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, joined in the condemning the alleged police brutality on Fayose.He described the assault as portending grave danger for the country’s democracy.

The governor, who is the National Coordinator of the Ekiti election team, made the condemnation in a chat with state House correspondents in Uyo.He said the PDP governors in the country view the action of the police as an abuse of the constitution of Nigeria.

“The issue is not about Ekiti State, but the entire Nigeria and the sustenance of the hard earned democratic governance in the country.“It is not about Fayose or Ekiti State, it is about every one of us,” he said. If it could happen to Fayose, it means that anybody could be a victim.

The governor said elections would come and go, faces too, would also come and go, but Nigeria would remain, adding: “Let us not do something that would really bring down this country.”“This cannot happen in any civilized society where a sitting governor, with full immunity could be so abused publicly. It is a shame for the whole country; it is a shame to all of us.”

Also, the PDP in Nasarawa State yesterday joined in the protest across the country against the police assault on the governor. Addressing members of the party at the state secretariat in Lafia, the party chairman, Francis Orogu, condemned the attack by the police. He said: “We hereby appeal to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to try as much as possible, to be neutral in the cause of providing security in the state.”